Systems and Methods to Detect Changes in Merchant Identification Information

ABSTRACT

A system and method to detect changes in transaction parameters for the identification of a store of the merchant in a payment processing network. The system is configured to monitor input data, such as acquirer&#39;s merchant master file (AMMF), transaction records, to detect transaction parameters of a processing entity that partially match with the transaction parameters associated with an external, persistent identifier of the merchant and/or the store of the merchant, determine a change or difference introduced in the detect transaction parameters, and update the set of transaction parameters associated with the persistent identifier of the store of the merchant that can be used to identify the set of transaction parameters of the store in a communication external to the communication system of the payment processing network.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/734,342, filed Jun. 9, 2015, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/009,692, filed Jun. 9, 2014, thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated in their entireties byreference.

The present application relates to U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/729,537, filed Jun. 3, 2015, and entitled “Systems and Methods toRegister Merchants for Data Processing in an Electronic TransactionSystem”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/624,778, filed Sep. 21,2012, assigned U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2013/0073464, and entitled“Systems and Methods to Communicate via a Merchant Aggregator”, and U.S.Pat. No. 8,706,557, issued Apr. 22, 2014 and entitled “Systems andMethods to Identify Merchants”, the entire disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

At least some embodiments disclosed in the present application relate toregistering merchants in general and more particularly but not limitedto registering merchants for data processing in an electronictransaction system in connection with data generated outside theelectronic transaction system and detecting changes of the registrationinformation.

BACKGROUND

U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2013/0073464 discloses a system configured toenroll a merchant in an add-on service of an electronic transactionprocessing system by conducting a transaction using a predeterminedaccount on a transaction terminal of the merchant. A portal is providedto facilitate the match of the transaction record as stored in thetransaction processing system and the transaction record as stored in amerchant aggregator that enrolls the merchant. Through the matching ofthe transaction records, the merchant ID used to identify the merchantin the transaction processing system is linked with the merchantidentifier of the merchant aggregator used to represent the merchantoutside the transaction processing system.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,706,557 discloses a mobile application configured togenerate a transaction at a transaction terminal of a merchant toprovide information about the merchant, such as the GPS location and amerchant identifier used to identify the merchant outside an electronictransaction processing system, to the transaction processing system viaan authorization request of the transaction and/or communications withthe portal of the transaction processing system. Through the use of themobile application, information about the merchant is associated withthe identification information that is used to identify the transactionterminal in the transaction processing system.

The entire disclosures of the above discussed patent documents arehereby incorporated herein by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings in which like referencesindicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 shows a system configured to register merchants for servicesprovided based on transaction processing in an electronic transactionprocessing system and data generated external to an electronictransaction processing system.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user interface configured to obtain a storeidentifier representing a set of parameters that are used in transactionmessages for payments to a merchant and that can be used to identify astore of the merchant according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a system configured to determine whether a paymenttransaction is relevant to an item of a merchant according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a system configured to update merchant identificationinformation according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows a method configured to update merchant identificationinformation according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a system configured to communicate via a merchantaggregator according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows a system to enroll a merchant according to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a system to identify a merchant according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 9 shows a system to provide real-time messages according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates a system to provide services based on transactiondata according to one embodiment.

FIG. 11 shows a system to provide information based on transaction dataaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates a transaction terminal according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates an account identifying device according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates a data processing system according to oneembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, a user interface is configured to allow a merchant tosearch and identify a set of transaction parameters that are used inauthorization and/or settlement messages of payment transactionsinitiated for a store of the merchant and allow the merchant to obtainan identifier representing the set of transaction parameters that can besubsequently used to determine whether a transaction currently beingprocessed in an electronic transaction processing network is initiatedfor the store of the merchant.

For example, a merchant may have multiple stores/retail locations. Themerchant may have different offers for the different stores/retaillocations that are configured to be processed differently by theelectronic payment processing network. The identifier representing theset of transaction parameters of a particular store of the merchant canbe used to tell apart the transactions made for the particular store ofthe merchant from transactions made for other stores of the merchantand/or transactions made for other merchants.

For example, a data warehouse in an electronic payment processingnetwork is configured in one embodiment to store data associating theset of transaction parameters with the identifier provided to themerchant; and the identifier can be subsequently used to identify itemsof the store of the merchant, such as offers, incentives, loyaltyprograms of the store of the merchant that are communicated in waysseparate from communications of the authorization and/or settlementmessages for payment transactions. Such items are generally communicatedoutside the electronic payment processing network in a way separate fromauthorization or settlement messages transmitted within the electronicpayment processing network for payment transactions initiated for thestore of the merchant). The identifier can be used to indicate that theitems of the store of the merchant are relevant to authorization and/orsettlement messages of payment transactions that have the set oftransaction parameters represented by the identifier. For example, whendata fields of an authorization request contain data matching the set oftransaction parameters represented by the identifier, the authorizationrequest can be determined to be relevant to the items that areassociated with the identifier representing the set of transactionparameters.

FIG. 1 shows a system configured to register merchants for servicesprovided based on transaction processing in an electronic transactionprocessing system and data generated external to the electronictransaction processing system.

In FIG. 1, a transaction handler (103) is connected in an electronictransaction processing network (435) to generate transaction records(301) of transactions authorized via the processing at the transactionhandler (103).

The transaction record (301) typically includes transaction information(431), such as the date and time of the transaction and the amount ofthe transaction, and merchant identification information (433), such asacquirer bank identification number, card acceptor, terminal ID,merchant address and/or merchant name. The transaction record (301)further includes other information such as account informationidentifying the consumer account from which the payment is made.

The merchant address and/or merchant name used in authorization messagesmay be variation of the merchant address and/or merchant name used inbusiness communications of the merchant outside the transaction network.For example, abbreviations may be used to shorten the merchant addressand/or merchant name expressed in authorization messages such that thecommunication efficiency of the transaction network (435) can beimproved. Thus, it is a challenge to accurate correlate the merchantaddress and/or merchant name used in authorization messages and themerchant address and/or merchant name used communications outside thetransaction network.

A combination of a card acceptor and terminal ID can be used to uniquelyidentify a particular transaction terminal. However, a merchanttypically has multiple transaction terminals in a store of the merchant.It is inefficient to enumerate the individual transaction terminals fora store in communications related to the store of the merchant.

Acquirer bank identification number may not uniquely identify a store ofa merchant, because different stores of the merchant may use the sameacquirer bank identification number. On the other side, a merchant mayuse multiple acquirer bank identification numbers for transactionterminals disposed in the same store.

In FIG. 1, to reliably register a store of a merchant, the systemprovides a portal (143) to search for merchant identificationinformation (433) of the store of the merchant and obtain an externalmerchant ID (427) representing merchant identification information (433)of the store of the merchant. Thus, in subsequent communications ofexternal merchant data (429) that is generated outside of thetransaction network (435) (e.g., data not originated or initiated fromauthorization requests of transactions processed in the transactionnetwork (435)), the external merchant ID (427) can be used to tag theexternal merchant data (429) and thus specify that the external merchantdata (429) is relevant to the merchant identification information (433)represented by the external merchant ID (427).

In FIG. 1, a portal (143) is configured to facilitate the search via auser interface (421). For example, the portal (143) is configured in oneembodiment to present a web document to a web browser, causing the webbrowser to present the user interface (421) in accordance with the webdocument. Using the user interface (421) a representative of themerchant may submit a search request (423) containing transaction info(431) specified as a search criterion.

After the portal (143) receives the search request (423), the portalsearches the data warehouse (149) for the transaction record (301) thathas the transaction info (431) in the respective data fields of thetransaction record (301) and retrieves the merchant identificationinformation (433) from data fields such as acquirer bank identificationnumber, card acceptor, terminal ID, merchant address and/or merchantname. The merchant identification information (433) of a transactionrecord identifies a transaction terminal of the merchant from which thecorresponding transaction is initiated.

In some instances, the transaction info (431) may match multipletransaction records having different merchant identification information(433) that corresponds to one or more transaction terminals of themerchant.

In some embodiments, the portal (143) groups and presentsidentifications of different transaction terminals as candidates forstore identification. Alternatively or in combination, the user may usethe user interface (421) to selectively group the transaction terminalsand/or update the grouping of the transaction terminals for differentstores or retail locations.

In FIG. 1, the portal (143) is configured to generate an externalmerchant ID (427) representing the set of merchant identificationinformation (433) grouped to represent the transaction terminals of aparticular store of the merchant and present the external merchant ID(427) as an identifier of the store of the merchant in the search result(425) provided on the user interface.

In some embodiments, the search result (425) includes a tool that allowsa user to provide input to select the merchant identificationinformation (433) of a subset of matching transaction terminals forassociation with the external merchant ID (427).

After the external merchant ID (427) is associated with the merchantidentification information (433) of one or more transaction terminals inthe particular store of the merchant, the portal (143) can receive aninput of the external merchant data (429) that is tagged with theexternal merchant ID (427) to instruct the transaction handler to detecttransactions that have data fields matching the merchant identificationinformation (433) represented by the external merchant ID (427) andfurther process the external merchant data (429) in connection with thedetected transactions.

In one embodiment, the system is configured to accurate correlatemerchants as non-processing entities known outside a communicationsystem for payment transaction processing with respective merchants asprocessing entities known inside the communication system for paymenttransaction processing.

For example, in a communication system of an electronic paymenttransaction processing network, one or more parameters transmitted inthe communication system, such as card acceptor, terminal ID, merchantaddress and/or name provided in authorization messages or settlementmessages of payment transactions, may be used to identify the merchantsas processing entities in the electronic payment processing network. Ina separate communication system outside the communication system of thepayment transaction processing network, the same merchants may beidentified via other parameters as non-processing entities in a contextoutside the electronic payment processing network. For example, offersand incentives of the merchants may be communicated in an advertisingnetwork outside the communication system of the electronic paymentprocessing network that uses a transaction handler to interconnectacquirer processors controlling merchant accounts and issuer processorscontrolling consumer payment accounts. Accurately correlating theprocessing entities of the merchants with the non-processing entities ofthe merchants enables the redemption of the benefits of the offers andincentives in connection with the transactions to make payments to themerchants and provide real time communications regarding the offers andincentives to consumers during the processing of the paymenttransactions.

In one embodiment, to accurately correlating the processing entities ofthe merchants with the non-processing entities of the merchants, a userinterface is configured to allow a merchant to obtain a uniqueidentifier that represents the merchant as a processing entity and usethe identifier in association with non-processing activities (e.g.,offer programs, loyalty programs). Through the use of the userinterface, the transaction processing parameters used in thecommunication system of the payment processing network (e.g., acquirerbank identification number, card acceptor, terminal ID, merchant addressand/or name that are provided in authorization messages or settlementmessages of transactions for payments to the merchant) are identifiedand associated with the unique identifier that represents the merchantand/or the store of the merchant. Thus, the transaction processingparameters associating with the processing entity of the merchant in thecommunication system of the payment processing network are associatedwith the unique identifier. When an item (e.g., offer) of the merchantis identified to be associated with the unique identifier assigned tothe merchant and/or the store of the merchant, the item can bedetermined to be associated with the transaction processing parameters.In response to a message in the communication system of the paymentprocessing network for a payment transaction being processed by thepayment processing network, the system can determine whether or not thepayment transaction is for the merchant and/or the store of themerchant, based on the association of the unique identifier used as partof the identification of the item and the transaction processingparameters represented by the unique identifier. If the transactionprocessing parameters in the message of the payment transaction matchwith the transaction processing parameters represented by the uniqueidentifier, the payment transaction is considered for the merchantand/or the store of the merchant and thus relevant to the item; andotherwise, the payment transaction is not considered for the merchantand/or the store of the merchant and thus irrelevant to the item.

In one embodiment, the unique identifier is a persistent identifier thatidentifies the merchant and/or the store of the merchant. Within thecommunication system of the payment processing network, the uniqueidentifier associated with transaction processing parameters that can beused to determine whether or not a message for a payment transaction isfor the merchant and/or the store of the merchant. Outside thecommunication system of the payment processing network, the uniqueidentifier is used to identify which items are for the merchant and/orthe store of the merchant. In combination, the unique identifier linksthe items of the merchant and/or the store of the merchant to thetransaction processing parameters of the merchant and thus enable thedetermination of whether a message for a payment transaction transmittedin the communication system of the payment processing network isrelevant to the items of the merchant and/or the store of the merchant.

In one embodiment, merchant information is organized in merchanthierarchy, such as a chain that has many stores, a store has manytransaction terminals, etc. A merchant may search for the database torequest the unique identifier that is used to represent the merchant asa processing entity in the hierarchy. The search may be by acquirer andbank identification number (BIN), store address, merchant names, pasttransactions, etc. Subsequently, the merchant may use the uniqueidentifier in any related services to identify the merchant as theprocessing entity in the payment processing system.

FIG. 2 illustrates a user interface configured to obtain a storeidentifier representing a set of parameters that are used in transactionmessages for payments to a merchant and that can be used to identify astore of the merchant according to one embodiment.

In FIG. 2, the user interface allows a representative of a merchant tosearch for processing entities as known in the communication system ofthe payment processing network that correspond to the store of themerchant.

For example, the representative of the merchant may select the option tofind merchants by transaction. For example, the representative of themerchant may specify, in the user interface, the parameters of thepayment transactions made in the store of the merchant to request theuser interface to identify payment transactions matching the specifiedparameters. Examples of the parameters include the date of transaction,the amount of the transaction, the address of the transaction, etc.

In one embodiment, such transactions made to identify the store of themerchant are to be made using a predetermined payment account known tothe system; and thus, the representative of the merchant does not haveto identify the account information of the payment account.Alternatively, the transactions made to identify the store of themerchant are to be made using a payment account chosen by arepresentative of the merchant; and the user interface may request theaccount information of the payment account to identify thetransaction(s) made to identify the store of the merchant. When thestore of the merchant has multiple transaction terminals, one or moretransactions are to be made using each of the transaction terminals inthe store of the merchant.

After the transactions made to identify the store of the merchant arefound and confirmed via the user interface, the system is configured toextract the transaction processing parameters from the messagestransmitted within the payment processing network for the transactionsand assign an store ID to represent the transaction processingparameters of store of the merchant. The user interface presents thestore ID to the representative to the merchant, such that the merchantmay use the store ID to identify non-processing items, such as offers,loyalty programs, incentives, as being associated with the set oftransaction processing parameters of the store of the merchant.

In an alternative option, the transaction processing parameters of thestore of the merchant may be found via searching based on the addressand/or name of merchants provided by the acquirers of the respectivemerchants. Since the addresses and names provided by acquirers toidentify merchants may have different variations, spelling, and/orabbreviation from the corresponding information provided by therepresentative of the merchant in the user interface, the system isconfigured to provide search results that may have a partial match. Theprocessing entities that are identified by the acquirers and that atleast partially match with the search criterion specified in the userinterface are listed in the search result; and the representative of themerchant may select the entities that are believed to correspond to thestore of the merchant. The one or more transaction processing parametersof the processing entities selected by the representative of themerchant from the search results are then assigned a unique store IDthat can be used to identify non-processing items of the store of themerchant.

In one embodiment, the user interface is configured to provide an optionto allow the representative of the merchant to search using the merchantID assigned by an acquirer to the merchant.

In one embodiment, the user interface is configured to provide an optionto allow the Representative of the merchant to search using the cardacceptor ID and acquirer bank identification number assigned by anacquirer to the transaction terminals located in the store of themerchant.

In one embodiment, the user interface allows the representative of themerchant to find the processing entities currently associated with theunique store ID of the merchant, review the details of the informationabout the processing entities, and provide updates and/or corrections.

In one embodiment, a merchant may have different stores at differentlocations. The user interface is configured to allow the representativeto obtain a merchant identifier uniquely representing the merchant amongvarious merchants and different store identifiers to uniquely representeach store of the merchant among the stores of the merchants (and/oramong the stores of various merchants).

FIG. 3 illustrates a system configured to determine whether a paymenttransaction is relevant to an item of a merchant according to oneembodiment.

In FIG. 3, the portal (143) is configured to provide a user interfacefor the merchant to obtain the merchant identifier and/or the storeidentifiers for labeling non-processing items, such as the userinterface illustrated in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 3, the merchant identifier (501) is stored in the data warehouse(149) in association with one or more store identifiers (503, . . . ,505), each of which store identifiers represents a store of the merchant(509).

In FIG. 3, the user interface presented by the portal (143) allows themerchant to identify the transaction processing parameters (507) thatcan be used to determine whether nor not a transaction is for the storerepresented by the corresponding store identifier. For example, thetransaction processing parameters (507) may include the informationassigned by the acquirers to identify the merchants, such as merchantaddress (511), acquirer bank identification number (BID) (512), cardacceptor ID (514), terminal ID (514), etc. When the store uses multipletransaction terminals, the set of transaction processing parameters(507) may include multiple card acceptor IDs (e.g., 514), terminal IDs(e.g., 514), etc.

In some embodiments, a data warehouse may assign a franchise identifierto represent a set of merchant identifiers (e.g., 501) that representthe different owners in the franchise.

In FIG. 3, the transaction handler (103) is configured to monitor thetransaction messages transmitted in the payment processing network(e.g., illustrated in FIG. 11). The transaction handler (103) isconfigured to save a transaction record (301) for the paymenttransaction. The transaction record (301) includes fields such as theacquirer bank identification number (512) of the acquirer processor(147) responsible for processing the payment transaction, the cardacceptor ID (513) and the terminal ID (514) of the transaction terminal(105) used to initiated the payment transaction and other parameters,such as transaction data and time, transaction amount, merchant categorycode of the merchant, etc.

In FIG. 3, the portal (143) is configured to receive the communicationof a non-processing item, such as the offer (186), outside thecommunication system of the payment processing network (e.g., notreceived via the transaction handler (103), the acquirer processor(147), and/or the issuer processor (145)). The offer (186) is configuredto include the merchant identifier (501) to indicate that the offer isfrom the merchant (509) and the store identifier (503) to indicate thatthe offer (186) is applicable to payment transactions made in the storerepresented by the store identifier (503).

For example, to determine whether the transaction of the transactionrecord (301) is relevant to the offer (186), the portal (143) determineswhether the transaction processing parameters (512, 513, . . . , 514) ofthe transaction record (301) match with the transaction processingparameters (507) associated with the merchant identifier (501) and/orthe store identifier (503).

For example, in one embodiment, after a user (101) accepts the offer(186), a trigger record (207) is configured to detect the transactionsmade in the consumer payment account (146) of the user (101). When thetransaction handler (103) detects the transaction of the user (101)based on the trigger record (207), the transaction handler (103)requests the portal (143) (or a rule engine (519)) to determine whetherthe transaction having the transaction record (301) is relevant to theoffer (186). Based on the merchant identifier (501) and/or the storeidentifier (503) specified for the offer (186), the portal (143) (or therule engine (519)) looks up the transaction processing parameters (e.g.,507) that are associated with the merchant identifier (501) and/or thestore identifier (503) and determines whether the transaction processingparameters (512, 513, . . . , 514) of the transaction record (301) matchwith the transaction processing parameters (507) associated with themerchant identifier (501) and/or the store identifier (503). If there isa match, the transaction is for the store of the merchant and thusrelevant to the offer (186); and otherwise, the transaction is notrelevant to the offer (186).

In one embodiment, a computing apparatus is configured to include one ormore of: the portal (143), the data warehouse (149), the message broker(201), the media controller (115), the rule engine (519), and thetransaction handler (103), each of which may be implemented via a dataprocessing system illustrated in FIG. 14.

The computing apparatus can be further implemented, optionally, toperform other operations discussed below, such as the operationsdiscussed in the section entitled “TRANSACTION DATA BASED SERVICES.”Some of the hardware arrangements are discussed in the sections entitled“CENTRALIZED DATA WAREHOUSE” and “HARDWARE.”

In one embodiment, a system is configured to detect changes intransaction parameters for the identification of a merchant and/or astore of the merchant in a payment processing network. The changes maybe caused by adjustments in business arrangements and/or paymentprocessing arrangements. For example, the store may be moved to a newlocation while using the same acquirer and the same set of transactionterminals. For example, the merchant may change the name of the businesswhile operating at the same location and/or use the same acquirer. Forexample, the merchant may replace certain transaction terminals and/oruse a different acquirer. The system is configured to monitor inputdata, such as acquirer's merchant master file (AMMF), transactionrecords, to detect transaction parameters of a processing entity thatpartially match with the transaction parameters associated with anexternal, persistent identifier of the merchant and/or the store of themerchant, determine a change or difference introduced in the detecttransaction parameters, and update the set of transaction parametersassociated with the external, persistent identifier accordingly. Furtherdetails and examples are provided in the section entitled “UPDATEIDENTIFICATION”.

Update Identification

In one embodiment discussed above, an external, persistent identifier isconfigured to be used outside the communication system of a paymentprocessing network to identify a merchant/store as a processing entitywithin the communication system of a payment processing network. Theidentifier is associated with a set of transaction processing parametersthat can be used to determine whether or not a transaction is made forthe merchant/store.

However, a change in business arrangement or payment processingarrangement may cause one or more changes in the transaction processingparameters of the merchant/store.

In one embodiment discussed in this section, the system is furtherconfigured to use recent merchant data and/or transaction data, such asrecent transaction records saved by a transaction handler and/oracquirer's merchant master files (AMMF) received from respectiveacquirers of the merchants, to detect, in an automated way, the changesand update the transaction processing parameters associated with theexternal, persistent identifier for the identification of the paymenttransactions of the merchant/store.

For example, a merchant/store may add a new location, close a location,or move from one location to another. Thus, the merchant/store addressin the transaction processing parameters may change.

For example, a change in ownership may result in the set of transactionterminals connected to the same acquirer being used by a differentmerchant.

For example, a change in merchant/store location name may be a result ofa change in business arrangement of the merchant/store. For example,merchants may combine via acquisitions/mergers; and additional storesmay open under the same merchant.

In one embodiment, the system is configured to automatically keep trackof merchant processing characteristics (e.g., acquirer BIN, CardAcceptor ID, terminal ID, and/or other details) and maintain themcurrent by deriving information from multiple data sources, such asglobal repository for merchant data, transaction data, merchant profiledatabase containing merchant information received from acquirers, suchas acquirer's merchant master files.

Through the automatic identification and addition of parameters sets fornew stores and/or existing stores, the system allows offers running at amerchant level to be extended automatically to new stores without anymanual intervention. Automatic recognition of the merchant location nameallows system to make the offer program robust.

The detection of the changes and/or the automated updates in themerchant identification parameters prevent incorrect storeidentification being used to trigger operations based on transactionmessages for authorization or settlement, such as the triggering ofautomated offer redemption based on an authorization request containingthe identification, the triggering of a real time message related to anoffer based on an authorization request identifying a transaction of arelevant merchant/store. Further, the detection of the changes allowpro-active identification of data quality issues and prevent storeshaving potentially incorrect identification data from being added intoan offer management system.

In one embodiment, a centralized system is configured to provide thelatest, accurate merchant data to stakeholder systems that uses themerchant processing characteristics to identify merchants/stores. Themerchant processing characteristics include the transaction processingparameters used in authorization/settlement messages, such as merchantname, merchant address, acquirer BIN, Card Acceptor ID. The systemmonitors transaction data and acquirer submitted merchant data to detectchanges in identification data of a merchant and/or a store. Throughmatching relevant fields of transaction data and acquirer submittedmerchant data of the same merchant/store, alternative expressions forthe respective fields are determined. Changes may be detected by the wayof the detection of new alternative expressions or the detection ofexpired expressions that have not been used after more than apre-determined period of time. The detected changes can be updatedautomatically and/or sent to merchants for confirmation (e.g., beforeand/or after the update).

Since the system is capable of automatically identifying certain changesin merchant/store identification information used within the paymentprocessing system, the system can improve the accuracy of themerchant/store identification information for various services, allowingsuch services to rely upon payment transaction messages transmittedwithin the payment processing network to determine whether the paymenttransactions are for the merchants/stores identified by respectiveexternal, persistent identifiers, such as transaction-based add-onservices that are dependent on the merchant location and/or merchantidentity at the store level.

In general, many changes to business arrangements and/or paymentarrangements of merchants and/or their stores can cause a partial changein merchant processing characteristics/transaction processing parametersusable to identify merchants/stores in messages transmitted within apayment processing network. Such partial changes may be caused bymergers and acquisitions, addition of a store under the same merchant,change of store name, change of store location, change in POS terminalownership, etc. In a partial change, a changed set of processingcharacteristics/transaction processing parameters can be matched withthe known processing characteristics/transaction processing parametersto conclude that, with a degree of certainty, the changed set ofprocessing characteristics/transaction processing parameters is for thecorresponding merchant/store. Thus, the change can be identified andapplied to the set of characteristics/transaction processing parametersof the merchant/store in an automated way.

FIG. 4 shows a system configured to update merchant identificationinformation according to one embodiment.

In FIG. 4, the data warehouse (149) is configured to store a set oftransaction processing parameters (507) of a merchant/store, such as anaddress (511) and/or a name of the merchant/store from an acquirer'smerchant master file (AMMF) or a transaction message for authorizationand/or settlement, a bank identification number (BIN) of an acquirer ofthe merchant/store, one or more card acceptor IDs (513) assigned by theacquirer to the merchant/store, one or more terminal IDs of transactionterminals (e.g., 105) of the store identified by the store identifier(503).

For example, the transaction processing parameters (507) can beinitially identified via a user interface illustrated in FIG. 14 anddiscussed in section entitled “STORE IDENTIFICATION”, and subsequentlyupdated via the system described in this section.

In one embodiment, for each of the data fields, such as address (511),acquirer BIN (512), card acceptor ID (513), terminal ID (514), thetransaction processing parameters (507) includes one or more alternativeexpressions. For example, the store identifier (503) may have aplurality of alternative expressions for the data field of card acceptorID (513), where each of the alternative expressions is a valid match forthe data field of card acceptor ID (513) in a transaction communicationmessage for the store identified by the store identifier (503).

In one embodiment, a complete match between a transaction message andthe transaction processing parameters (507) of the store identifier(503) occurs when the transaction message having a correct matchingalternative expression for each of the data fields (511, . . . , 514) inthe transaction processing parameters (507). A partial between atransaction message and the transaction processing parameters (507) ofthe store identifier (503) occurs when the transaction message having acorrect matching alternative expression for some but not all of the datafields (511, . . . , 514) in the transaction processing parameters(507).

In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to receive anacquirer's merchant master file (AMMF) (521) periodically from anacquirer identified by the acquirer BIN (512). The AMMF (521) includes aprofile of a merchant, including information such as the address (511)of the merchant as known to the acquirer, one or more Card Acceptor IDs(e.g., 513) of the merchant/store, one or more terminal IDs (514) of themerchant/store, and other information about the store/merchant, such asa name of the store/merchant.

Similar to the matching between a transaction message and thetransaction processing parameters (507) associated with the storeidentifier (503), the AMMF (521) data for a store/merchant associatedwith the acquirer BIN (512) can be a complete match or a partial matchof the transaction processing parameters (507).

In FIG. 4, the rule engine (519) is configured to match the merchantprofile in the AMMF (521) with the set of transaction processingparameters (507) of the store identifier (503).

For example, when the acquirer BIN (512) of the AMMF (521) matches withthe acquirer BIN (512) in transaction processing parameters (507) of thestore identifier (503), the address (511) in AMMF (521) matches with theaddress (511) of the store identifier (503), and the card acceptor ID(513) in AMMF (521) matches with a card acceptor ID (513) of the storeidentifier (503), the merchant profile in the AMMF (521) can beconsidered as a profile providing information for the store identifier(503). When a terminal ID (514) in the merchant profile does not matchany of the terminal ID (514) in the transaction processing parameters(507) of the store identifier (503), the terminal ID (514) can be addedto the transaction processing parameters (507) as an alternativeexpression for terminal ID (514) of the store identifier (503). Theaddition may be the result of adding a new transaction terminal (105) inthe store of the merchant, or replacing an old transaction terminal witha new transaction terminal (105) in the store of the merchant.

Similarly, when a store of a merchant is moved from one address toanother, the AMMF (521) may indicate that the address (511) is the setof card acceptor ID (513) and/or the terminal ID (514) has been changedin comparison with the transaction processing parameters (507). The newaddress provided in the AMMF (521) (or in a transaction record (301))can be added as an alternative expression for the address (511) of thestore identifier (503).

Thus, incremental changes in some of the transaction processingparameters (507) can be detected with great certainty and updatedautomatically in real time with the changes. For example, the ruleengine (519) is configured in one embodiment to detect the relocation ofa transaction terminal from one store to another, in response to adetermination that the terminal ID (514) previously associated with anaddress (511) is now associated with another address.

The transaction processing parameters (507) may include other parametersnot shown in FIG. 4, such as merchant/store names as known to theacquirer, reported in the AMMF (521) or the transaction record (301).

In one embodiment, the portal (143) and/or the rule engine (519) isconfigured to match the parameters in the transaction records (e.g.,301) with those in the transaction processing parameters (507) of thestore identifier (503) to detect changes. For example, when the terminalID (514) of the transaction record (301) matches with the terminal ID(514) of the store identifier (503), but the acquirer BIN (512) of thetransaction record (301) does not match with the acquirer BIN (512) inthe transaction processing parameter (507) of the store identifier(503), it can be considered as an indication of a change of acquirerservices for the merchant. The rule engine (519) may add the acquirerBIN (512) found in the transaction record (301) in the set oftransaction processing parameters (507) of the store identifier (503)and optionally remove the old acquirer BIN (512) from the set oftransaction processing parameters (507) of the store identifier (503).

In one embodiment, the portal (143) and/or the rule engine (519) isfurther configured to track the usage of the transaction processingparameters (507) in the recent AMMF (521) and the recent transactionrecords (e.g., 301). If a parameter in the set of transaction processingparameters (507) associated with the store identifier (503) has not beenused in payment transactions for a period of time and not reported in anAMMF (521) for one or more reporting cycles for submitting AMMFs, theparameter may be removed from the set of transaction processingparameters (507) associated with the store identifier (503).

For example, the rule engine (519) can remove an old acquirer BIN (512)from the set of transaction processing parameters (507) of the storeidentifier (503) after it is determined that no AMMF having the oldacquirer BIN (512) has reported a merchant profile containing theparameters of the corresponding transaction terminals of the storeidentifier (503), and the old acquirer BIN (512) has not been used inthe transactions reported by the transaction records (e.g., 301) oftransactions initiated at the corresponding transaction terminals of thestore identifier (503).

FIG. 5 shows a method configured to update merchant identificationinformation according to one embodiment. For example, the method of FIG.5 can be implemented in a system illustrated in FIG. 4.

In one embodiment, a computing apparatus is configured to associate(531) an identifier (503) of a store of a merchant with a set oftransaction processing parameters (507); receive (533) input data (e.g.,an Acquirer's Merchant Master File (AMMF) (521), a transaction record(301)) identifying a store of a merchant in a payment processingnetwork; extract (535) first transaction processing parameters from theinput data; determine (537) a degree of match of the first transactionprocessing parameters with the set of transaction processing parameters(507) associated with the identifier; if the degree of match isdetermined (539) to be above a threshold, detect (541) a change to a setof transaction processing parameters (507) associated with theidentifier (541). The detect change can be applied to the set oftransaction processing parameters (507) associated with the identifier(541) automatically, or after a notification to the merchant isconfirmed.

In one embodiment, the computing apparatus is configured to include oneor more of: the portal (143), the data warehouse (149), the messagebroker (201), the media controller (115), the rule engine (519), and thetransaction handler (103), each of which may be implemented via a dataprocessing system illustrated in FIG. 7.

For example, the computing apparatus of one embodiment includes atransaction handler (103) having at least one microprocessor (173) and amemory (167, 179) storing first instructions configured to instruct themicroprocessor to process authorization of transactions in an electronicpayment transaction processing network illustrated in FIG. 11.

The computing apparatus further includes a data warehouse (149) havingat least one data storage device to store transaction records (301) ofthe authorization of the transactions processed by the transactionhandler (103), where each of the transaction records (301) includes datafields identifying merchants and transaction terminals of the merchants,such as data fields for acquirer BIN (512), card acceptor ID (513),terminal ID (514), merchant name, merchant address, etc.

The computing apparatus further includes a portal (143) coupled with thedata warehouse (149) and having at least one microprocessor (173) and amemory (167, 179) storing second instructions configured to instruct theportal (143) to receive acquirer submitted merchant data, such as AMMF(521), and access the transaction records (301) generated by thetransaction handler (103).

The computing apparatus further includes a rule engine (519) having atleast one microprocessor (167) and a memory (167, 179) storing thirdinstructions configured to instruct the rule engine (519) to: storeidentification data (503, 507) associating an identifier (503) uniquelyidentify a store of a merchant and alternative expressions (e.g., 507)of merchant attributes obtained from the data fields of transactionrecords (301) of the store of the merchant and/or the AMMF (521). Thealternative expressions of the merchant attributes identify one or moretransaction terminals disposed in the store of the merchant.

In one embodiment, the merchant is identified using a merchantidentifier (501); and the stores of the merchant are individuallyrepresented by the store identifiers (503, . . . , 505).

For example, when the respective data fields (512-514) of thetransaction record (301) of a payment transaction matches with therespective alternative expressions in the transaction processingparameters (507) associated with the store identifier (503), thetransaction can be determined as a transaction for the store identifiedby the identifier (503).

The rule engine (519) is further configured via the third instructionsto: determine a partial match between the alternative expressions (e.g.,507) of the merchant attributes (511-514) associated with the identifier(503) and merchant data received within the electronic paymenttransaction processing network after the identification data is stored,such as the transaction record (301) and/or the AMMF (521). In responseto the partial match, the rule engine (519) is further configured viathe third instructions to identify a mismatched merchant attributeaccording to the partial match; and update the identification data(e.g., 507) according to the mismatched merchant attribute.

In one embodiment, the partial match is determined when a firsttransaction terminal identified in the first merchant data has a firstset of expressions agreeing with the alternative expressions of a firstsubset of the merchant attributes, and a second set of expressions notfound in the alternative expressions of a second subset of the merchantattributes.

In one embodiment, the rule engine is configured via the thirdinstructions to identify additional alternative expressions of thesecond subset of the merchant attributes representing the firsttransaction terminal disposed in the store of the merchant.

In one embodiment, the rule engine is configured via the thirdinstructions to detect alternative expressions of the merchantattributes that have not been used in transactions initiated on one ormore transaction terminals disposed in the store of the merchant for apredetermined period of time.

In identifying the mismatched merchant attribute, the rule engine isfurther configured via the third instructions to identify one or moreadditional alternative expressions. The identification data (507) isupdated to include the one or more additional alternative expressionsdetermined for the mismatched merchant attribute.

In one embodiment, the rule engine is further configured via the thirdinstructions to determine a probability that the one or more additionalalternative expressions are for the store of the merchant; and a humanoperator is prompted to investigate the mismatched merchant attributewhen the probability is below a threshold. For example, the probabilitycan be evaluated based at least in part on a degree of mismatchingbetween the existing alternative expressions of the merchant attributesassociated with the identifier and the merchant data received within theelectronic payment transaction processing network, such as thetransaction record (301) and/or the AMMF (521).

In one embodiment, the identification data (e.g., 507) includes a set ofalternative expressions for the mismatched merchant attribute; and eachexpression in the set of alternative expressions is a match candidatefor the mismatched merchant attribute. When the merchant data receivedwithin the electronic payment transaction processing network identifiesa transaction terminal with expressions consistent with the alternativeexpression for matched merchant attribute for the store identifier(503), but none of the set of alternative expressions for the mismatchedmerchant attribute, the received merchant data identifies one or moreadditional alternative expressions for the mismatched merchantattribute.

In one embodiment, the rule engine is further configured via the thirdinstructions to: identify one or more alternative expressions in the setof alternative expressions that have not been used in transactions ofthe store of the merchant within a period of time; and update the set ofalternative expressions to exclude the one or more alternativeexpressions. For example, the rule engine is configured in oneembodiment to: determine a probability that the one or more alternativeexpressions have been eliminated for the store of the merchant; andprompt a human operator to investigate elimination of the one or morealternative expressions when probability is below a threshold.

The computing apparatus can be further implemented, optionally, toperform other operations discussed below, such as the operationsdiscussed in the section entitled “TRANSACTION DATA BASED SERVICES.”Some of the hardware arrangements are discussed in the sections entitled“CENTRALIZED DATA WAREHOUSE” and “HARDWARE.”

Merchant Aggregator

In one embodiment, real-time information about transactions iscommunicated to a remote computing device, such as a merchantaggregator, which has a plurality of merchants as clients. The computingdevice is connected to the portal (143) of the transaction handler (103)a communication network (e.g., Internet, a wide area network, or adedicate network) to receive the real-time information and provideservices to the merchants and their customers.

In one embodiment, the remote computing device, such as the merchantaggregator, is configured to provide offers (186) to customers (e.g.,user (101)) on behalf of the merchants, service loyalty programs onbehalf of the merchants, and/or provide rewards to customers (e.g., user(101)) for their interaction with the merchants, etc. The real-timeinformation about the transactions between the merchants and thecustomers allows the remote computing device to provide new services andimprove existing services.

In one embodiment, the computing device remotely connected to the portal(143), such as a merchant aggregator, is configured to enroll merchantsand/or customers (e.g., user (101)) to provide services based on thereal-time information about transactions between the merchants and thecustomers (e.g., user (101)). However, the identifiers used by theportal (143) to identify the enrolled merchants are generally differentfrom merchant identifies used by the transaction handler (103) inprocessing transactions initiated using the transaction terminals (e.g.,105) of the merchants. Thus, the identifiers used by the portal (143) toidentify the enrolled merchants may not be sufficient to identify thetransactions between the enrolled merchants and the enrolled customers.

In one embodiment, the portal (143) of the transaction handler (103) isconfigured to match the identities of the merchants as known to theremote computing device, such as the merchant aggregator, with theidentities of the merchants as known to the transaction handler (103),to facilitate the monitoring of transactions of the merchants and togenerate the real-time information about the transactions between therespective merchants and enrolled customers (e.g., user (101)).

In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to link a merchantidentifier of a merchant as known to the remote computing device to amerchant identifier of the merchant as known to the transaction handler(103) via a transaction made using a transaction terminal (105) of themerchant. Information about the transaction is communicated between theportal (143) and the remote computing device, in association with themerchant identifier of the merchant as known to the remote computingdevice, to identify the transaction from the transactions processed thetransaction handler (103) and thus link the merchant identifier of themerchant as known to the remote computing device, to the merchantidentifier used in the identified transaction.

Alternatively or in combination, the portal (143) is configured to linkthe merchant identifier of the merchant as known to the remote computingdevice to the merchant identifier of the merchant as known to thetransaction handler (103) based at least in part on marching attributesof the merchant, such as name, address, business category, etc.

For example, when a merchant enrolls or registers with the remotecomputing device to receive the services of the remote computing device,the remote computing device is configured to collect information aboutthe merchant, such as the business name of the merchant, the streetaddress of the merchant, the business category of the merchant, etc.Such information about the merchant can be matched with the respectivemerchant information in the data warehouse stored for the merchants asknown to the transaction handler (103). Different data fields, such asname, address, business field, may provide partial match for a givenmerchant identifier of the merchant as known to the remote computingdevice; and a rule engine is configured in one embodiment to rank thedegree of match and select one or more top ranked candidate merchantidentifiers, as used in transactions processed by the transactionhandler (103).

In one embodiment, a transaction is initiated on a transaction terminal(105) of a merchant as part of the process to register or enroll themerchant for the services of the remote computing device. Thetransaction is identified as part of information about the merchant, inassociation with the merchant identifier of the merchant as known to theremote computing device. The merchant identifier used in the transactionis thus linked to the merchant identifier of the merchant as known tothe remote computing device. Thus, transactions of the merchant can bemonitored using the merchant identifier used in the transaction formedas part of the process to register or enroll the merchant.

In one embodiment, the transaction formed as part of the process toregister or enroll the merchant is performed in a predetermined account.The information about the transaction is provided to the portal (143) toallow the portal (143) to identify a transaction record for thetransaction, based on attributes such as the date and/or time of thetransaction, the transaction amount, an authorization code for thetransaction, and a message (e.g., a pseudo-promotional code) transmittedto the transaction handler (103) in an authorization request for thetransaction, etc. The portal (143) is configured to identify thetransaction record (e.g., 301) of the transaction based on matching theattributes as identified in the information transmitted from the remotecomputing device to the portal (143).

In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to communicate withthe remote computing device to determine one or more parameters of thetransaction performed on the transaction terminal (105) of a merchant toenroll or register the merchant. Examples of the parameters that can beconfigured to uniquely identify merchants to be enrolled includetransaction amounts, pseudo-promotional code, etc. After one or moreparameters are determined to uniquely identify the merchant among a setof merchants currently in the process of being enrolled or registered,the transaction terminal (105) is used to initiate the transactionaccording to the one or more parameters; and the transaction handler(103) is configured to monitor transactions being processed to detectthe transaction initiate the transaction according to the one or moreparameters. In response to the detection of authorization requestinitiated on the transaction terminal (105) of the merchant for thetransaction made according to the one or more parameters, the merchantidentifier used in the authorization request is extracted and linked tothe merchant as registered and/or enrolled.

In one embodiment, enrollment communication between the portal (143) andthe remote computing device includes not only the identificationinformation about the merchant, but also the identification informationof the transaction terminal (105) used to initiate the transactiondesigned to register the merchant and/or the transaction terminal (105).In one embodiment, information about the transaction terminal (105)includes an identifier of the transaction terminal (105) (e.g., a serialnumber), a location of the transaction terminal (105) (e.g., a streetaddress of a retail store in which the transaction terminal (105) isdeployed, a GPS position of the transaction terminal (105), adescription of the location of the transaction terminal (105) within aretail store in which a plurality of transaction terminals (e.g., 105)of the merchant are located).

In one embodiment, multiple transactions are performed to individuallyidentify the transaction terminals of the merchant. Thus, thetransaction handler (103) can monitor the transactions made usingspecific transaction terminals of the merchant and/or provideinformation about the transaction terminals on which the monitoredtransactions are initiated.

In one embodiment, when an authorization request for a transaction madeusing the one or more parameters assigned to uniquely identify themerchant and/or the transaction terminal (105) of the merchant isdetected, the transaction handler (103) is configured to communicatewith the portal (143) to provide a response to indicate the detection ofthe transaction. For example, in one embodiment, the transaction handler(103) is configured to provide an indication via the authorizationresponse to indicate the recognition of the merchant and/or thetransaction terminal (105). For example, in one embodiment, the portal(143) is configured to provide a message to the remote computing deviceto indicate the successful detection of transaction associated with themerchant and/or the transaction terminal (105) and completion of theregistration or enrollment process.

FIG. 6 shows a system configured to communicate via a merchantaggregator according to one embodiment. In FIG. 6, the merchantaggregator (221) is configured to communicate with merchants (227) toenroll the merchants (227) for the services of the system.

In one embodiment, when the merchant aggregator (221) enrolls a newmerchant, the merchant aggregator provides merchant information (225) tothe portal (143) of the transaction handler (103) to request the portal(143) and/or the transaction handler (103) to monitor the transactionsof the respective merchant (227).

In one embodiment, the merchant information (225) used by the merchantaggregator (221) to identify the merchant (227) may include the businessdata (e.g., corporation data, corporation name, consumer-facing name,“doing business as” names, names of affiliates and/or subsidiaries),addresses and store locations, etc. of the merchant (227). In oneembodiment, the merchant information (225) further includes informationabout the acquirer representing the merchant, merchant category, and/orother relevant information that is helpful in identifying the merchantin the transaction processing network having the transaction handler(103) interconnecting acquirer processors (e.g., 147) operated byacquirers representing respective merchants and issuer processors (e.g.,145) operated by issuers representing respective users (101) of consumeraccounts (146).

For example, in one embodiment, the merchant aggregator (221) providesthe merchant information (225) via a spreadsheet identifying a list ofmerchants (227). In the spreadsheet, each merchant (227) is identifiedvia the corporate name of the merchant (227) and the consumer-facingname of the merchant. For less well known merchants (e.g., smallbusinesses), the spreadsheet further identifies the name of theacquiring bank that represents the merchant (227) in processingtransactions to be processed via the transaction handler (103). In oneembodiment, the spreadsheet further includes the desired starting dateof monitoring the transactions of the merchants (227) identified in thespreadsheet and the expected ending date of monitoring the transactionsof the merchant (227) for the merchant aggregator (221).

In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to provide a userinterface that allows the merchant aggregator (221) to specify data forthe creation of the trigger records (207) associated with an offercampaign. For example, the user interface in one embodiment allows themerchant aggregator (221) to create an offer campaign associated withone of the merchants (227) identified in the spreadsheet provided toidentify the merchants (227). To support the offer campaign, the userinterface is configured to allow the merchant aggregator (221) tospecify rules to monitor the transactions of the respect merchant (227).For example, the rules may identify a date to start testing of themonitoring of the transactions of the merchant (227), a date to send themonitoring of the transactions of the merchant (227) for the purpose ofthe offer campaign, a request for a notification of transactionsprovided in real time as the processing of the authorization requests ofthe respective transactions of the merchant (227), and/or a request fora notification of transactions provided in real time as the processingof the settlement requests of the respective transactions of themerchant (227). In one embodiment, the user interface further allows themerchant aggregator (221) to specify other requirements to selecttransactions to be monitored, such as requirements based on transactionamount, transaction time, characteristics of the user (101) purchasingfrom the merchant (227), etc. In one embodiment, the user interfacefurther allows the merchant aggregator (221) to specify messages to betransmitted, in a way as illustrated in FIG. 9, to the respective user(101) transacting with the merchant (227), in response to thetransactions detected according to the offer rules.

In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to correctly identifytransactions associated with the enrolled merchant (227) based on themerchant information (225), and calculate the location of thetransactions to enable location based services associated with the offer(186) of the merchant (227).

In one embodiment, based on the merchant information (225), the portal(143) is configured to identify one or more merchant IDs (305) that areconfigured to be used in authorization requests for transactions of themerchant (227) identified by the merchant information (225). Theidentified merchant ID (305) is used to generate the trigger records(207) for monitoring the transactions of the merchant (227) identifiedby the merchant information (225) provided by the merchant aggregator(221).

In one embodiment, the account holders (e.g., user (101)) are requiredto enroll with the system to provide the consent for the mediacontroller (115) to send the transaction information of the accountholders (e.g., user (101)) to the merchant aggregator (221), and for themedia controller (115) and/or the merchant aggregator (221) to sendmessages to the point of interaction (107) of the user (101) based onthe transaction information.

In FIG. 6, after user enrollment, the user (101) of the consumer account(146) is identified to be associated with a user ID (223) used by themerchant aggregator (221) to identify the user (101). The user (101) mayfurther provide the communication reference (205) to the merchantaggregator (221) to receive offers (186), rewards, notifications,alerts, etc. The transaction handler (103) is configured to use thetrigger records (207) containing the account number (302) of the user(101) to detect the transactions of the user (101) (e.g., thetransactions between the user (101) between one or more the enrolledmerchants (e.g., 227)).

To associate the account number (302) with the user ID (223) in oneembodiment, the account number (302) of the consumer account (146) ofthe user (101) is identified to the portal (143) during the userenrollment and stored in the data warehouse (149) in association withthe user ID (223).

For example, during the user enrollment process, the point ofinteraction (107) (e.g., a web browser, a mobile phone) of the user(101) interacting with the merchant aggregator (221) is redirected inone embodiment from the merchant aggregator (221) to the portal (143)with a reference to the user ID (223); and in response, the portal (143)provides a user interface to the point of interaction (107) of the user(101) to specify the account number (302). After the account number(302) specified by the user (101) is validated and/or authenticated(e.g., via security code, person identification number, securityquestions, security devices, etc.), the account number (302) isassociated with the user ID (223) in the data warehouse (149) of thetransaction handler (103).

In one embodiment, more than one account number (302) of the consumeraccounts (146) of the user (101) can be associated with the single userID (223) used by the merchant aggregator (221) to represent the user(101).

In one embodiment, the user ID (223) is assigned to the user (101) bythe merchant aggregator (221) during the enrollment process.Alternatively, the portal (143) may generate and assign the user ID(223) for the user during the enrollment process and provide the user ID(223) to the merchant aggregator (221) to complete the enrollment of theuser (101).

In one embodiment, during the enrollment process, the user (101)provides the account number (302) to the merchant aggregator (221),which indicates the association between the account number (302) and theuser ID (223) to the portal (143) of the transaction handler (103); andthe user ID (223) is subsequently used to identify the user (101) ismessages to the merchant aggregator (221). Alternatively, the accountnumber (302) may be used directly to identify the user (101), when thereal-time message from the media controller (115) to the merchantaggregator (221) is transmitted over a secure communication channel.

In one embodiment, the trigger record (207) is generated based at leastin part on the account number (302) and the merchant ID (305) to monitorthe transactions between the user (101) and the merchant (227). When theauthorization request from the transaction terminal (105) of themerchant (227) identifies the account number (302) and the merchant ID(305), as required by the trigger record (207) (and satisfies otherrequirements of the trigger record (207), such as requirements relatedto the date and time of the transaction, the amount of the transaction,etc.), the transaction handler (103) causes the message broker (201) togenerate a message and transmit the message to the merchant aggregator(221), in real time with the processing of the transaction, to informthe merchant aggregator (221) of the transaction.

In one embodiment, the data warehouse (149) stores the merchant location(229) for the merchant ID (305) associated with the transaction terminal(105).

In one embodiment, in response to the authorization request from thetransaction terminal (105), the merchant location (229) of thetransaction terminal (105) is determined and included in the real-timemessage generated by the message broker (201) and provided to themerchant aggregator (221) in a generic, machine-readable format (e.g.,XML). Based on the information provided in the real-time message, themerchant aggregator (221) may use the communication reference (205) tocommunicate offers (186), rewards, messages, notifications, alerts, etc.to the point of interaction (107) of the user (101), such as viamessages to a mobile phone identified by the communication reference(205) and/or a mobile application running on the mobile phone of theuser (101).

In FIG. 6, the merchant aggregator (221) is configured to communicatewith the point of interaction (107) of the user (101) in response to thereal-time message from the media controller (115). Alternatively or incombination, the data warehouse (149) may store the communicationreference (205), which is used by the media controller (115) to provideone or more separate real-time messages related to location-based offers(186) to the point of interaction (107) of the user (101) without goingthrough the merchant aggregator (221).

In one embodiment, a merchant (227) may have a number of subsidiarieswith different names and locations. In response to the merchantinformation (225), merchant data related to merchant accounts (148) aresearched to identify a set of possible matches to the merchantinformation (225), which may be further communicated to the merchantaggregator (221) for confirmation. For example, in one embodiment, eachmatched merchant ID is augmented with the respective address of thetransaction terminals operated by the respective merchant entity; andthe merchant (227) may further confirm the enrollment of the respectivemerchant entity. In one embodiment, the names and addresses of themerchant information (225) are matched with the names and addresses ofthe merchant data for merchant accounts (148) to identify the merchantentity that is enrolled via the merchant information (225).

In one embodiment, a plurality of merchant IDs (305) may match themerchant information (225) specified by the merchant aggregator (221);and one or more merchant locations corresponding to the locations of thetransaction terminals (105) may associate with a merchant ID (305) inthe data warehouse (149). When the trigger record (207) matches atransaction, the merchant location (229) corresponding to thetransaction terminal (105) from which the authorization request isreceived is used for the location-based service provided by the merchantaggregator (221) and/or the message broker (201).

FIG. 7 shows a system to enroll a merchant according to one embodiment.In FIG. 7, a transaction made using a predetermined account number (302)is used to correlate the merchant information (225) (e.g., a merchantidentifier (235) of the merchant as known to the merchant aggregator(221)) with the merchant ID (305) used in the transaction messagesprocessed by the transaction handler (103).

In FIG. 7, when the merchant (227) enrolls with the merchant aggregator(221), the merchant enrollment data (231), including the merchantinformation (225), is generated to identify the names and locations ofthe enrolled merchant (227). The merchant aggregator (221) uses themerchant identifier (235) to represent the enrolled merchant (227).

In one embodiment, to correlate the merchant identifier (235) with amerchant ID (305) associated with the merchant account (148), thetransaction terminal (105) at the enrolled location of the merchant(227) is used to initiate a transaction using a predetermined accountnumber (302). After the transaction is initiated, the acquirer processor(147) connected to the transaction terminal (105) provides theauthorization request to the transaction handler (103), which stores thetransaction record (237) that includes the predetermined account number(302), the merchant ID (305), the date (303) of the transaction, theamount (304) of the transaction, the authorization code provided by thetransaction handler (103), through the acquirer processor (147), to thetransaction terminal (105) for the transaction, etc.

In one embodiment, the merchant aggregator (221) stores a separatetransaction record (233) including certain information about thetransaction as identified by the enrolling merchant (227), such as thepredetermined account number (302), the date (303) (or the time periodin which transaction is performed), the amount (304), and theauthorization code received by the transaction terminal (105), throughthe acquirer processor (147) and the transaction handler (103), for thetransaction, etc.

In FIG. 7, the portal (143) is configured to match the transactionrecords (233 and 237) to link the merchant ID (305) to the merchantidentifier (235), using one or more sets of corresponding fields of thetransaction records (233 and 237).

For example, during the enrollment period, the portal (143) isconfigured to retrieve transactions records (237) for the predeterminedaccount number (302) from the data warehouse (149); and the merchantaggregator (221) is configured to provide its transaction record (233)with the merchant identifier (235) to the portal (143). The portal (143)is configured to match the transaction records (233 and 237) based onthe account number (302), the transaction date (303), and/or thetransaction amount (304). When a match is detected, the merchant ID(305) (and the identifier of the transaction terminal (105)) from thetransaction record (237) generated by the transaction handler (103) islinked to the merchant identifier (235) associated with the transactionrecord (233) stored by the merchant aggregator (221).

Using the system of FIG. 7, the merchant (227) can selectively enrollcertain transaction terminals (105) operated under certain names and/orat certain locations. Thus, the merchant (227) may enroll a portion ofthe transaction terminals (105) under the control of the merchant (227)but not another portion of the transaction terminals (105) under thecontrol of the merchant (227). Different transaction terminals e.g.,105) of a merchant may have different merchant ID (305) and/ortransaction terminal IDs. Through transactions initiated using thedifferent transaction terminals of the merchant, the merchant identifier(235) representing an enrolled merchant is linked to the differentmerchant ID (305) and/or transaction terminal IDs as used inauthorization request for the transactions made using respectivetransaction terminals of the corresponding enrolled merchant.

In one embodiment, the transaction record (233) further includes thelocation information of the transaction terminal (105), which can beused for location based services. For example, in reporting thetransaction initiated via using the predetermined account number (302)at the transaction terminal (105), the merchant (227) may specify thelocation of the transaction terminal (105) via a mobile device, a mobileapplication, a map application, or a street address. Thus, the locationof the transaction terminal (105) is associated with the merchant ID(305) and/or the transaction terminal (105).

In one embodiment, the data warehouse (149) stores location informationof transaction terminal (105) (e.g., as reported by the acquirerprocessor (147)) and provides the location information to the merchantaggregator (221) after the merchant ID (305) is linked to the merchantidentifier (235) via the transaction record (237) for the transactioninitiated on the transaction terminal (105).

In one embodiment, during the enrollment process, the merchantaggregator (221) instructs the merchant (227) to perform the transactionaccording to the data stored in the transaction record (223) andprovides the transaction record (233) to the portal (143). In response,the portal (143) generates a trigger record (207) to detect thetransaction that is subsequently initiated by the merchant at thetransaction terminal (105). In one embodiment, the trigger record (207)is configured to cause the portal (143) to link the merchant ID (305)from the transaction record (237) of the identified transaction with themerchant identifier (235) associated with the transaction record (233)used to generate the trigger record (207).

In one embodiment, during the enrollment process, the merchantaggregator (221) is configured to request the portal (143) to generate aset of transaction parameters to temporarily identify a transactionterminal (105) of a merchant (227). The portal (143) is configured totransmit the parameters to the merchant aggregator as part of thetransaction record (233) for initiation of the transaction. Examples ofthe parameters include the transaction amount, a pseudo-promotional codeto be transmitted in an authorization request initiated in thetransaction terminal (105). After the parameters are transmitted to themerchant aggregator (221), the transaction handler (103) is configuredto monitor transactions to detect the transaction made, in thepredetermined account, using the parameters provided to the merchantaggregator (221). Thus, as soon as the authorization request for theexpected transaction reaches the transaction handler (103), the portal(143) can identify the merchant ID (305) and/or the transaction terminalID of the respective transaction terminal (105) from the receivedauthorization request, for association with the transaction terminal(105) of the merchant (227) to be enrolled.

In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) is configured tomonitor and detect a plurality of transactions initiated to enroll aplurality of different merchants and/or different transaction terminalsof the enrolled merchants. To separately identify the merchants and/orthe transaction terminals, the portal (143) and/or the merchantaggregator (221) are configured to select the transaction parameters(e.g., transaction amounts) as temporary unique identifiers of themerchants and/or transaction terminals. A data warehouse (e.g., 149) isconfigured to store data associating the temporary unique identifierswith the merchants and/or transaction terminals. After a transaction isperformed and detected, the temporary association between thecorresponding transaction parameters with the merchants and/ortransaction terminals can be removed and/or reused for theidentification of further merchants and/or transaction terminals.

In one embodiment, the transaction parameters configured as temporaryidentifiers of the enrolled merchants and/or transaction terminals areused to create trigger records to detect the subsequent authorizationrequests initiated from the corresponding transaction terminals of theenrolled merchants.

Some details about enrolling a merchant for communication via a merchantaggregator can be found in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2013/0073464,entitled “Systems and Methods to Communicate via a Merchant Aggregator”,the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Merchant Identification

In a payment transaction processing network, such as a system partiallyillustrated in FIG. 11 and further discussed in the section entitled“TRANSACTION PROCESSING AND DATA,” a merchant may be represented by amerchant account (148). A transaction terminal (105) of the merchant hasa terminal identifier that identifies the merchant account (148) in thepayment transaction processing network. The system may store merchantinformation in association with the merchant account, such as a businessname of the merchant, a business address of the merchant, etc.

However, in a large payment transaction processing network, it can be achallenging task to efficiently and accurately identify a particularmerchant based on merchant information such as business name and/orbusiness address, when the merchant information is submitted by a humanuser.

For example, a merchant may have a plurality of different businessnames. A business name associated with a merchant account (148) in thepayment transaction processing system may be different from a businessname typically used by the merchant in doing business outside thepayment transaction processing system. For example, a merchant may usebusiness names with slightly different spelling or wording in differentbusiness situations. For example, the business name of a merchant may bechanged but not updated promptly in a data warehouse (149) that storesthe merchant information for the merchant account (148). Some merchantshave similar or same business names.

Further, it is desirable to have accurate location information of thetransaction terminals (e.g., 105) of the merchants to provide locationrelated services in connection with payment transaction processing.

FIG. 8 shows a system to identify a merchant according to oneembodiment.

In FIG. 8, a mobile device (409) is configured with a mobile application(407) to facilitate the identification of the merchant. The mobileapplication (407) can be provided via, for example, downloading it froma portal (143) or an application store configured to deliver mobileapplications to certain mobile devices (409).

In FIG. 8, the mobile device (409) includes a global positioning system(GPS) receiver (403) to determine the current position of the mobiledevice (409). When the mobile device (409) is positioned near thetransaction terminal (105) of the merchant, or co-located with thetransaction terminal (105), the position determined by the GPS receiver(403) can be used as the position of the transaction terminal (105).

Alternatively or in combination, the mobile device (409) may determinethe current position of the mobile device (409) cellular communicationssignals, wireless local area communications signals, and/or aninteractive map.

In FIG. 8, the mobile device (409) includes a communication device (405)configured to communicate with the portal (143) via a wiredcommunication connection and/or a wireless communication connection. Forexample, the communication device (405) may include a wireless localarea network transceiver configured to use a wireless local area networkconnection to connect to the Internet for communication with the portal(143). For example, the communication device (405) may include acellular communications transceiver configured to use a cellulartelecommunications connection to connect to the Internet forcommunication with the portal (143).

In FIG. 8, the mobile device (409) is configured to communicate with theportal (143) to authenticate the merchant using the mobile application(407) running in the mobile device (409).

For example, when the merchant participates in an offer program (e.g.,by providing an offer (186) illustrated in FIG. 9 or FIG. 6), a uniquemerchant identifier (411) can be assigned to represent the merchant. Themerchant identifier (411) is configured to uniquely identify themerchant among a plurality of merchants in the system, such as merchantsidentified in the data warehouse (149).

Access to merchant information (225) and/or services related to theunique merchant identifier (411) can be protected via credentialinformation such as username and password. The mobile application (407)is configured to authenticate the merchant based on the credentialinformation.

The merchant identifier (411) can be assigned to the merchant when themerchant installs and/or configures the mobile application (407) on themobile device (409). For example, after the merchant signs up for theservices provided by the portal (143), the merchant is prompted to setup username and password. After the merchant passes authenticationoperations on the mobile application (407), the merchant identifier(411) is stored in the mobile application (407) or mobile device (409)to represent the merchant.

For example, when the merchant enrolls in a program with a merchantaggregator (221) illustrated in FIG. 6, the merchant identifier (411)can be assigned to identify the merchant in both the merchant aggregator(221) and the data warehouse (149).

The mobile application (407) can be configured to instruct the merchantto position the mobile device (409) at or near the transaction terminal(105) to obtain a location (413) of the mobile device (409) thatrepresents the location of the transaction terminal (105). The mobileapplication (407) then transmits the location (413) to the portal (143)for association with the merchant identifier (411) in the data warehouse(149).

In FIG. 8, the portal (143) is configured to provide an account number(302) to the mobile application (407) in response to receiving thelocation (413). The portal (143) stores data in the data warehouse (149)to temporarily associate the account number (302) to the location (413).

In FIG. 8, the account number (302) is independent from the merchantaccount (148) in which the merchant receives payments processed by anacquirer processor (147) on behalf of the merchant. The account number(302) assigned to temporarily represent the location (413) and/or themerchant identifier (411) in the data warehouse (149) can be a one-timeaccount number, or be set to expire within a short period of time.

The period of time in which the account number (302) can be reduced tosuch that if the mobile device (409) is in close proximity to thetransaction terminal (105), the account number (302) presented by themobile application (407) can be used on the transaction terminal (105)to initiate a transaction within the period of time, and if the mobiledevice (409) is not in close proximity to the transaction terminal(105), it would be difficult to use the account number (302) presentedby the mobile application (407) on the transaction terminal (105) toinitiate a transaction within the period of time in which the accountnumber (302) is valid.

For example, the mobile application (407) may display the account number(302) to allow the merchant to key in the account number (302) on thetransaction terminal (105) to initiate an authorization request for atransaction in an account uniquely identified by the account number(302).

For example, the mobile application (407) may include a near fieldcommunication device that is configured to communicate the accountnumber (302) to the transaction terminal (105) via near fieldcommunication. When the mobile device (409) and the transaction terminal(105) are in range for near field communication, the location (413) ofthe mobile device (409) as determined by the mobile device (409)represents an accurate measurement of the location (413) of thetransaction terminal (105). The mobile application (407) can beconfigured to determine the location (413) for transmission to theportal (143) while the mobile device (409) and the transaction terminal(105) are in range for near field communication, such as before, during,or after the communication of the account number (302) to thetransaction terminal (105) via near field communication.

In some implementations, the mobile device (409) can be configured toestablish a wired or wireless communication connection with thetransaction terminal (105) to provide the account number (302). Examplesof such a communication connection include a Bluetooth connection, apersonal wireless area network communication connection, a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) connection, etc. The use of a wired communicationconnection or a wireless connection of a short communication range canimprove the accuracy of the location (413) measured using the locationdetermination system of the mobile device (409), such as the GPSreceiver (403).

In FIG. 8, the transaction terminal (105) has a terminal identifier(401) that is associated with the merchant account (148) in the paymenttransaction processing network interconnected by a transaction handler(103). After the authorization request for the transaction made on thetransaction terminal (105) using the account number (302) provided viathe mobile application (407) is processed by the transaction handler(103), a transaction record (301) for the transaction is generated andstored in the data warehouse (149) that is coupled with both thetransaction handler (103) and the portal (143). The transaction record(301) includes the account number (302) provided to the transactionterminal (105) via the mobile application (407) and the terminalidentifier (401) of the transaction terminal (105).

If the transaction corresponding to the transaction record (301) isdetermined to be valid (e.g., within the predetermined time period inwhich the account number (302) is valid and associated with the location(413), within the predetermined limit on number of uses of the accountnumber (302)), the portal (143) and/or the transaction handler (103) (ora separate computing device) extracts the terminal identifier (401) fromthe transaction record (301) and stores data in the data warehouse (149)to associate the terminal identifier (401) with the location (413)measured for the transaction terminal (105) and the merchant identifier(411).

After the temporary association between the account number (302) andmerchant information (225) is replaced in the data warehouse (149) withthe association between the terminal identifier (401) and the merchantinformation (225), the merchant information (225) can be identified andused for transactions initiated on the transaction terminal (105) of themerchant. When a subsequent transaction includes the terminal identifier(401), the transaction can be identified to be at the location (413) andwith the merchant represented by the merchant identifier (411).

For example, if an offer (186) (e.g., illustrated in FIG. 9 or 4)requires a payment transaction with the merchant identified by themerchant identifier (411), the transaction handler (103) and/or theportal (143) can be configured to detect such a payment transactionbased on the terminal identifiers (e.g., 401) associated with themerchant identifier (411).

The merchant may have a plurality of transaction terminals (e.g., 105),and the mobile application (411) can be used multiple times to measurethe locations (e.g., 413) of the transaction terminal (e.g., 105),associate the measured locations (e.g., 413) with the terminalidentifiers (e.g., 401) of the respective transaction terminals (e.g.,105), and associate the terminal identifiers (e.g., 401) of the merchantwith the merchant identifier (411) of the merchant.

The portal (143) may provide different one-time account numbers (e.g.,302) for identification of the different transaction terminals (e.g.,105) of the merchant. Alternatively, the account number (302) may beconfigured to be valid for use multiple times within a period of time.

When the account number (302) can be used multiple times on differenttransaction terminals (e.g., 105) of the merchant, the system may beconfigured to measure one location (413) representing the set of thetransaction terminals (e.g., 105). Alternatively, the transactionhandler (103) and/or the portal (143) may correlate the transactionsinitiated on the transaction terminals (e.g., 105) and localmeasurements based on time sequence.

For example, the mobile application (407) may provide the account number(302) to initiate an authorization request for a transaction on thetransaction terminal (105) and report the location (413) measured forthe transaction terminal (105) within a short period of time (e.g.,shorter than a time period for the merchant to move the mobile device toanother transaction terminal). Thus, the authorization request generatedfrom the transaction terminal (105) can be corrected to the location(413) measured from the transaction terminal (105) based on thetimestamp associated with the reporting of the measured location (413)and the timestamp of the authorization request.

Alternatively or in combination, different transaction amounts can beused to tell the different transaction terminals (105) apart. Forexample, during the identification of the transaction terminal (105),the mobile application (407) presents not only the account number (302),but also the transaction amount of the transaction to be initiated onthe transaction terminal (105). Thus, the transaction for the particulartransaction terminal (105) can be identified based on the combination ofthe transaction amount and the account number (302).

In one embodiment, a computing apparatus/system is configured to:provide a mobile application (407) on a mobile device (409) having aposition determination system (e.g., GPS receiver (403)); authenticate,using the mobile application (407), a merchant represented by a merchantidentifier (411) to perform operations in association with the merchantidentifier (411); determine a position of the mobile device (409) usingthe mobile application (407) while the mobile device (409) is near orco-located with a transaction terminal (401) of the merchant, such thatthe position can be used as a measurement of the location (413) of thetransaction terminal (401); in association with the merchant identifier(411), communicate the position (e.g., location (413)) to a portal (143)and receive an account number (302) from the portal; initiate, on thetransaction terminal (105), an authorization request for a transactionin an account specified by the account number (302); extract a terminalidentifier (401) of the transaction terminal (105) from theauthorization request that identifies the account number (302); andreplace the account number (302) with the terminal identifier (401) forassociation with the position (e.g., location (413)) and/or the merchantidentifier (411).

The computing apparatus/system may include one or more of the portal(143), the data warehouse (149), the mobile device (409), thetransaction terminal (105), and the transaction handler (103).

For example, the computing system can be implemented using one or moredata processing systems illustrated in FIG. 14, each of which has atleast one microprocessor (173) and memory (167) storing instructionsconfigured to instruct the at least one microprocessor to performoperations. The computing system may include: a transaction handler(103) configured to process payment transactions in a payment processingnetwork and generate transaction data (106) recording the paymenttransactions processed by the transaction handler; and a portal (143)configured to communicate with a mobile application (407) executing in amobile device (409) having a communication device (405) and a GPSreceiver (403), where the mobile application (407) is configured toinstruct the GPS receiver (403) to determine a position (e.g., location(413)) of the mobile device (409) while the mobile device (409) ispositioned in the vicinity of a transaction terminal (105) of amerchant, authenticating the merchant represented by a merchantidentifier (411). After the merchant is authenticated via the mobileapplication (407), the portal (143) communicates with the mobileapplication (407), via the communication device (405), to receive theposition (e.g., location (413)) from the mobile application (407) andprovides an account number (302) to the mobile application (407) for theinitiation of a transaction on the transaction terminal (105).

The computing system may further include a data warehouse (149) coupledwith the portal (143) and the transaction handler (103) to storemerchant information (225), including the position (e.g., location(413)) received from the mobile application (407), where the position(e.g., location (413)) is stored in association with the merchantidentifier (411) that uniquely identifies the merchant among a pluralityof merchants in the data warehouse (149). The data warehouse (149) mayfurther store first data associating the account number (302) with themerchant information (225), and a transaction record (301) of thetransaction initiated, on the transaction terminal (105) of themerchant, using the account number (302) while the account number (302)is associated with the merchant information (225), where the transactionrecord (301) includes the account number (302) and the terminalidentifier (401) of the transaction terminal (105).

The computing system is configured, via instructions, to identify thetransaction record (301) based on the account number (302), extract theterminal identifier (401) from the identified transaction record (301),identify the merchant information (225) that is associated with theaccount number (302) in the data warehouse (149), and store in the datawarehouse (149) second data associating the terminal identifier (401)with the merchant information (225).

The computing system may remove the first data associating the accountnumber (302) with the merchant information (225), after the second dataassociating the terminal identifier (401) with the merchant information(225) is stored in the data warehouse (149).

The computing system can be further configured to: detect a subsequenttransaction initiated on the transaction terminal (105) having theterminal identifier (401); determine the terminal identifier (401) usedin the subsequent transaction; and determine the location (413) of thesubsequent transaction and the merchant identifier (411) of thesubsequent transaction based on matching the terminal identifier (401)used in the subsequent transaction and the terminal identifier (401) inthe second data.

The account number (302) can be, for example, a one-time account number(302) valid for one time use. The one-time account number (302) can begenerated in response to receiving the location (413) from the mobileapplication (407), or in anticipation of the mobile application (407)submitting the location (413).

The mobile device can be configured, for example, to present the accountnumber (302) on a display device and determine the position (e.g.,location (413)) of the mobile device (409) while the account number(302) is presented on the display device. The time period of the displayof the account number (302) on the mobile application (407) can belimited to encourage the determination of the position (e.g., location(413)) of the mobile device (409) in the vicinity of the transactionterminal (105).

The mobile device (409) can be configured to communicate the accountnumber (302) to the transaction terminal (105) via near fieldcommunication, and determine the position of the mobile device (409) asthe measured location (413) of the transaction terminal (105) while themobile device (409) and the transaction terminal (105) are incommunication range for near field communication.

The mobile device (409) can also be implemented using a data processingsystem illustrated in FIG. 14. For example, the mobile device (409)includes a communication device (405), a GPS receiver (403), at leastone microprocessor (173) coupled with the communication device (405) andthe GPS receiver (403), and memory (167) storing instructions configuredto instruct the at least one microprocessor (173) to perform operations.The instructions include a mobile application (407) configured to:authenticate a merchant represented by a merchant identifier (411);determine, using the GPS receiver (403), a location (413) of the mobiledevice (409) while the mobile device (409) is positioned in the vicinityof a transaction terminal (105) of the merchant; and communicate, usingthe communication device (405), with the portal (143) to provide thelocation (413) in association with the merchant identifier (411), and toreceive an account number (302) for the initiation of a transactionusing the transaction terminal (105).

The portal (143) is coupled with a data warehouse (149) storingtransaction data (109) (as illustrated in FIG. 10) recording paymenttransactions processed by the transaction handler (103) of a paymentprocessing network, and the data warehouse (149) is coupled with theportal (143) and the transaction handler (103) to store: merchantinformation (225), such as the location (413) received from the mobileapplication (407) and the merchant identifier (411); first dataassociating the account number (302) with the merchant information(225), before a terminal identifier of the transaction terminal (106) ofthe merchant replaces it with the account number (302); and atransaction record (301) of the transaction initiated using the accountnumber (302) on the transaction terminal (105) of the merchant while theaccount number (302) is associated with the merchant information (225),where the transaction record (301) includes the account number (302) anda terminal identifier (401) of the transaction terminal (401).

The portal (143) can be configured to identify the transaction record(301) having the account number (302), extract the terminal identifier(401) from the transaction record (301), identify the merchantinformation (225) associated with the account number (302) in the datawarehouse (149) in accordance with the first data, and store in the datawarehouse (149) second data associating the terminal identifier (401)with the merchant information (225).

The account number (302) may be set to be valid for one time use withina predetermined period of time. The mobile device (407) may furtherinclude a display device, on which the mobile application (409) isconfigured to present the account number (302) while determining thelocation (413) of the mobile device (409).

The account number (302) may be displayed at least in a bar code formatsuch that a bar code scanner of the transaction terminal (105) can readthe account number (302). Alternatively, the transaction terminal (105)may include a key pad to receive manual input of the account number(302) from the person using the mobile device (409). Alternatively, themobile device (409) may include a near field communication deviceconfigured to communicate/present the account number (302) to thetransaction terminal (105) to initiate the transaction corresponding tothe transaction record (301). When the near field communication device(405) is used, the mobile device (409) can be configured to determineand report the location (413) of the mobile device (409) while themobile device (409) and the transaction terminal (105) are incommunication range for near field communication.

In some instances, the mobile device (409) may be integrated within thetransaction terminal (105); and the mobile application (407) can bedownloaded and installed on the transaction terminal (105) to performthe operations described herein.

The mobile application (407) may be provided by the portal (143) forinstallation on the mobile device (409) of the merchant. The merchant isprompted to provide input to the mobile application (407) toauthenticate that a user of the mobile application (407) is authorizedby the merchant represented by a merchant identifier (411) that uniquelyidentifies the merchant in an application outside the payment processingnetwork. The mobile application (407) is used to provide an accountnumber (302) to a transaction terminal (105) directly or indirectly,while measuring a location (413) of the transaction terminal (105) usinga GPS receiver (403). Thus, the measured location (413) of thetransaction terminal (105) can be associated with the merchantidentifier (411), and after the terminal identifier (401) of thetransaction terminal (105) is extracted from the authorization requestgenerated on the transaction terminal (105) using the account number(302), the terminal identifier (401) can be associated with the measuredlocation (413) of the transaction terminal (105) and the merchantidentifier (411). The operations can be repeated for differenttransaction terminals (e.g., 105) to measure their locations (e.g., 413)and to associate their terminal identifiers (401) with the merchantidentifier (411). The merchant information (225) may include informationsuch as the business name of the merchant, a street or mailing addressof the merchant, online access credential, etc.

Some details about using the mobile device (409) in enrolling a merchantfor communication triggered via a payment processing system can be foundin U.S. Pat. No. 8,706,557, entitled “Systems and methods to identifymerchants”, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

Real-Time Messages

In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) is configured tocooperate with the media controller (115) to facilitate real-timeinteraction with the user (101) when the payment of the user (101) isbeing processed by the transaction handler (103). The real-timeinteraction provides the opportunity to impact the user experienceduring the purchase (e.g., at the time of card swipe), throughdelivering messages in real-time to a point of interaction (107), suchas a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable computer,etc. The real-time message can be delivered via short message service(SMS), email, instant messaging, or other communications protocols.

In one embodiment, the real-time message is provided without requiringmodifications to existing systems used by the merchants and/or issuers.

FIG. 9 shows a system to provide real-time messages according to oneembodiment. In FIG. 9, the transaction handler (103) (or a separatecomputing system coupled with the transaction handler (103)) is todetect the occurrence of certain transactions of interest during theprocessing of the authorization requests received from the transactionterminal (105); a message broker (201) is to identify a relevant messagefor the user (101) associated with the corresponding authorizationrequest; and the media controller (115) is to provide the message to theuser (101) at the point of interaction (107) via a communication channelseparate from the channel used by the transaction handler (103) torespond to the corresponding authorization request submitted from thetransaction terminal (105).

In one embodiment, the media controller (115) is to provide the messageto the point of interaction (107) in parallel with the transactionhandler (103) providing the response to the authorization request.

In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) receives the messagefrom the media controller (115) in real-time with the transactionhandler (103) processing the authorization request. In one embodiment,the message is to arrive at the point of interaction (107) in thecontext of the response provided from the transaction handler (103) tothe transaction terminal (105). For example, the message is to arrive atthe point of interaction (107) substantially at the same time as theresponse to the authorization request arrives at the transactionterminal (105), or with a delay not long enough to cause the user (101)to have the impression that the message is in response to an actionother than the payment transaction. For example, the message is toarrive at the point of interaction (107) prior to the user (101)completing the transaction and leaving the transaction terminal (105),or prior to the user (101) leaving the retail location of the merchantoperating the transaction terminal (105).

In FIG. 9, the system includes a portal (143) to provide services tomerchants and/or the user (101).

For example, in one embodiment, the portal (143) allows the user (101)to register the communication reference (205) in association with theaccount data (111), such as the account information (142) of theconsumer account (146); and the media controller (115) is to use thecommunication reference (205) to deliver the message to the point ofinteraction (107). Examples of the communication reference (205) includea mobile phone number, an email address, a user identifier of an instantmessaging system, an IP address, etc.

In one embodiment, the portal (143) allows merchants and/or otherparties to define rules (203) to provide offers (186) as real-timeresponses to authorization requests; and based on the offer rules (203),the message broker (201) is to generate, or instruct the mediacontroller (115) to generate, the real-time message to provide theoffers (186) to the user (101). For example, the offer (186) may includea discount, incentive, reward, rebate, gift, or other benefit, which canbe redeemed upon the satisfaction of certain conditions required by theoffer rules (203). In one embodiment, based on the offer rules (203) themessage broker (201) configures a message by selecting the appropriatemessage template from (an) existing message(s) template(s), and insertsany relevant data (e.g., the communication reference (205)) into theselected template, then passes the configured message to the mediacontroller (115), which delivers the message to the point of interaction(107). In one embodiment, the message broker (201) (or a subsystem) isused to manage message templates along with the rules for selecting theappropriate message template from among several potential choices.

In one embodiment, the offer rules (203) include offer details,targeting rules, advertisement campaign details, profile mapping,creative mapping, qualification rules, award/notify/fulfillment rules,approvals, etc. Creative elements for offers include text, images,channels, approvals, etc.

In one embodiment, when the offer rules (203) are activated by themerchant or advertiser via the portal (143), the message broker (201) isto generate trigger records (207) for the transaction handler (103). Thetransaction handler (103) is to monitor the incoming authorizationrequests to identify requests that satisfy the conditions specified inthe trigger records (207) during the process of the authorizationrequests, and to provide the information about the identified requeststo the message broker (201) for the transmission of an appropriatereal-time message in accordance with the offer rules (203).

In one embodiment, the generation of the trigger records (207) for thetransaction handler (103) is in real-time with the merchant oradvertiser activating the offer rules (203). Thus, the offer rules (203)can be activated and used for the detection of the new authorizationrequests in real-time, while the transaction handler (103) continues toprocess the incoming authorization requests.

In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides information about thespending behaviors reflected in the transaction data (109) to assist themerchants or advertisers to target offers or advertisements. Forexample, in one embodiment, the portal (143) allows merchants to targetthe offers (186) based on transaction profiles (127). For example, theoffer rules (203) are partially based on the values in a transactionprofile (127), such as an aggregated spending profile. In oneembodiment, the offer rules (203) are partially based on the informationabout the last purchase of the user (101) from the merchant operatingthe transaction terminal (105) (or another merchant), and/or theinformation about the location of the user (101), such as the locationdetermined based on the location of the transaction terminal (105)and/or the location of the merchant operating the transaction terminal(105).

In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides transaction basedstatistics, such as merchant benchmarking statistics, industry/marketsegmentation, etc., to assist merchants and advertisers to identifycustomers.

Thus, the real-time messages can be used to influence customer behaviorswhile the customers are in the purchase mode.

In one embodiment, the benefit of the offers (186) can be redeemed viathe transaction handler (103). The redemption of the offer (186) may ormay not require the purchase details (e.g., SKU level purchase details).Details in one embodiment about redeeming offers (186) via thetransaction handler (103) are provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No.2011/0288918, entitled “Systems and Methods for Redemption of Offers,”the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

In one embodiment, when the authorization request for a purchaseindicates that the purchase qualifies the offer (186) for redemption ifthe purchase corresponding to the authorization request is completed,the message broker (201) is to construct a message and use the mediacontroller (115) to deliver the message in real-time with the processingof the authorization request to the point of interaction (107). Themessage informs the user (101) that when the purchase is completed, thetransaction handler (103) and/or the issuer processor (145) is toprovide the benefit of the offer (186) to the user (101) via statementcredit or some other settlement value, for example points in aregistered loyalty program, or credit at the point of sale using adigital coupon delivered to the purchaser via mobile phone.

In one embodiment, the settlement of the payment transactioncorresponding to the authorization request does not occur in real-timewith the processing of the authorization request. For example, themerchant may submit the complete purchases for settlement at the end ofthe day, or in accordance with a predetermined schedule. The settlementmay occur one or more days after the processing of the authorizationrequest.

In one embodiment, when transactions are settled, the settledtransactions are matched to the authorization requests to identifyoffers (186) that are redeemable in view of the settlement. When theoffer (186) is confirmed to be redeemable based on a record ofsuccessful settlement, the message broker (201) is to use the mediacontroller (115) to provide a message to the point of interaction (107)of the user (101), such as the mobile phone of the user (101). In oneembodiment, the message is to inform the user (101) of the benefit to beprovided as statement credits and/or to provide additional offers. Inone embodiment, the message to confirm the statement credits istransmitted in real-time with the completion of the transactionsettlement.

In one embodiment, the message broker (201) is to determine the identityof the merchant based on the information included in the authorizationrequest transmitted from the transaction terminal (105) to thetransaction handler (103). In one embodiment, the identity of themerchant is normalized to allow the application of the offer rules (203)that are merchant specific.

Details on real-time messages in one embodiment are provided in U.S.Pat. No. 8,359,274, issued Jan. 22, 2013 and entitled “Systems andMethods to Provide Messages in Real-Time with Transaction Processing,”the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

Transaction Data Based Services

FIG. 10 illustrates a system to provide services based on transactiondata according to one embodiment. In FIG. 10, the system includes atransaction terminal (105) to initiate financial transactions for a user(101), a transaction handler (103) to generate transaction data (109)from processing the financial transactions of the user (101) (and thefinancial transactions of other users), a profile generator (121) togenerate transaction profiles (127) based on the transaction data (109)to provide information/intelligence about user preferences and spendingpatterns, a point of interaction (107) to provide information and/oroffers to the user (101), a user tracker (113) to generate user data(125) to identify the user (101) using the point of interaction (107), aprofile selector (129) to select a profile (131) specific to the user(101) identified by the user data (125), and an advertisement selector(133) to select, identify, generate, adjust, prioritize and/orpersonalize advertisements for presentation to the user (101) on thepoint of interaction (107) via a media controller (115).

In FIG. 10, the system further includes a correlator (117) to correlateuser specific advertisement data (119) with transactions resulting fromthe user specific advertisement data (119). The correlation results(123) can be used by the profile generator (121) to improve thetransaction profiles (127).

The transaction profiles (127) of one embodiment are generated from thetransaction data (109) in a way as illustrated in U.S. Pat. App. Pub.No. 2010/0306029, entitled “Cardholder Clusters,” and U.S. Pat. App.Pub. No. 2010/0306032, entitled “Systems and Methods to SummarizeTransaction Data,” the disclosures of which applications are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

In one embodiment, a data warehouse (149) as illustrated in FIG. 11 iscoupled with the transaction handler (103) to store the transaction data(109) and other data, such as account data (111), transaction profiles(127) and correlation results (123). In FIG. 11, a portal (143) iscoupled with the data warehouse (149) to provide data or informationderived from the transaction data (109), in response to a query requestfrom a third party or as an alert or notification message.

In FIG. 11, the transaction handler (103) is coupled between an issuerprocessor (145) in control of a consumer account (146) and an acquirerprocessor (147) in control of a merchant account (148). An accountidentification device (141) is configured to carry the accountinformation (142) that identifies the consumer account (146) with theissuer processor (145) and provide the account information (142) to thetransaction terminal (105) of a merchant to initiate a transactionbetween the user (101) and the merchant.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate examples of transaction terminals (105) andaccount identification devices (141). FIG. 14 illustrates the structureof a data processing system (170) that can be used to implement, withmore or fewer elements, at least some of the components in the system,such as the point of interaction (107), the transaction handler (103),the portal (143), the data warehouse, the account identification device(141), the transaction terminal (105), the user tracker (113), theprofile generator (121), the profile selector (129), the advertisementselector (133), the media controller (115), etc. Some embodiments usemore or fewer components than those illustrated, such as, in FIGS.10-14, and other figures, as further discussed in the section entitled“VARIATIONS.”

In one embodiment, the transaction data (109) relates to financialtransactions processed by the transaction handler (103); and the accountdata (111) relates to information about the account holders involved inthe transactions. Further data, such as merchant data that relates tothe location, business, products and/or services of the merchants thatreceive payments from account holders for their purchases, can be usedin the generation of the transaction profiles (127, 341).

In one embodiment, the financial transactions are made via an accountidentification device (141), such as financial transaction cards (e.g.,credit cards, debit cards, banking cards, etc.); the financialtransaction cards may be embodied in various devices, such as plasticcards, chips, radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, mobilephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc.; and the financialtransaction cards may be represented by account identifiers (e.g.,account numbers or aliases). In one embodiment, the financialtransactions are made via directly using the account information (142),without physically presenting the account identification device (141).

Further features, modifications and details are provided in varioussections of this description.

Centralized Data Warehouse

In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) couples with acentralized data warehouse (149) organized around the transaction data(109). For example, the centralized data warehouse (149) may include,and/or support the determination of, spend band distribution,transaction count and amount, merchant categories, merchant by state,cardholder segmentation by velocity scores, and spending within merchanttarget, competitive set and cross-section. For example, the centralizeddata warehouse (149) may include the advertisement data (135) and/oroffers of benefits such as discount, reward, points, cashback, etc. Theoffers can be communicated to the users (e.g., 101) via theadvertisement data (135) or as part of the advertisement data (135).

In one embodiment, the centralized data warehouse (149) providescentralized management but allows decentralized execution. For example,a third party strategic marketing analyst, statistician, marketer,promoter, business leader, etc., may access the centralized datawarehouse (149) to analyze customer and shopper data, to providefollow-up analyses of customer contributions, to develop propensitymodels for increased conversion of marketing campaigns, to developsegmentation models for marketing, etc. The centralized data warehouse(149) can be used to manage advertisement campaigns and analyze responseprofitability.

In one embodiment, the centralized data warehouse (149) includesmerchant data (e.g., data about sellers), customer/business data (e.g.,data about buyers), and transaction records (301) between sellers andbuyers over time. The centralized data warehouse (149) can be used tosupport corporate sales forecasting, fraud analysis reporting,sales/customer relationship management (CRM) business intelligence,credit risk prediction and analysis, advanced authorization reporting,merchant benchmarking, business intelligence for small business,rewards, etc.

In one embodiment, the transaction data (109) is combined with externaldata, such as surveys, benchmarks, search engine statistics,demographics, competition information, emails, etc., to flag key eventsand data values, to set customer, merchant, data or event triggers, andto drive new transactions and new customer contacts.

Examples of targeted offer delivery in one embodiment are provided inU.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0030644, entitled “Targeted Advertising byPayment Processor History of Cashless Acquired Merchant Transaction onIssued Consumer Account,” and in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0035280,entitled “Systems and Methods for Targeted Advertisement Delivery,” thedisclosures of which applications are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

Transaction Processing and Data

FIG. 11 shows a system to provide information and/or services based ontransaction data (109) according to one embodiment.

In FIG. 11, the transaction handler (103) is coupled between an issuerprocessor (145) and an acquirer processor (147) to facilitateauthorization and settlement of transactions between a consumer account(146) and a merchant account (148). The transaction handler (103)records the transactions in the data warehouse (149). The portal (143)is coupled to the data warehouse (149) to provide information based onthe transaction records (301), such as the transaction profiles (127),aggregated spending profile, offer redemption notification, etc. Theportal (143) may be implemented as a web portal, a telephone gateway, afile/data server, etc.

In FIG. 11, the transaction terminal (105) initiates the transaction fora user (101) (e.g., a customer) for processing by a transaction handler(103). The transaction handler (103) processes the transaction andstores transaction data (109) about the transaction, in connection withaccount data (111), such as the account profile of an account of theuser (101). The account data (111) may further include data about theuser (101), collected from issuers or merchants, and/or other sources,such as social networks, credit bureaus, merchant provided information,address information, etc. In one embodiment, a transaction may beinitiated by a server (e.g., based on a stored schedule for recurrentpayments).

The accumulated transaction data (109) and the corresponding accountdata (111) are used to generate intelligence information about thepurchase behavior, pattern, preference, tendency, frequency, trend,amount and/or propensity of the users (e.g., 101), as individuals or asa member of a group. The intelligence information can then be used togenerate, identify and/or select targeted advertisements forpresentation to the user (101) on the point of interaction (107), duringa transaction, after a transaction, or when other opportunities arise.

In FIG. 11, the consumer account (146) is under the control of theissuer processor (145). The consumer account (146) may be owned by anindividual, or an organization such as a business, a school, etc. Theconsumer account (146) may be a credit account, a debit account, or astored value account. The issuer may provide the consumer (e.g., user(101)) an account identification device (141) to identify the consumeraccount (146) using the account information (142). The respectiveconsumer of the account (146) can be called an account holder or acardholder, even when the consumer is not physically issued a card, orthe account identification device (141), in one embodiment. The issuerprocessor (145) is to charge the consumer account (146) to pay forpurchases.

The account identification device (141) of one embodiment is a plasticcard having a magnetic strip storing account information (142)identifying the consumer account (146) and/or the issuer processor(145). Alternatively, the account identification device (141) is asmartcard having an integrated circuit chip storing at least the accountinformation (142). The account identification device (141) mayoptionally include a mobile phone having an integrated smartcard.

The account information (142) may be printed or embossed on the accountidentification device (141). The account information (142) may beprinted as a bar code to allow the transaction terminal (105) to readthe information via an optical scanner. The account information (142)may be stored in a memory of the account identification device (141) andconfigured to be read via wireless, contactless communications, such asnear field communications via magnetic field coupling, infraredcommunications, or radio frequency communications. Alternatively, thetransaction terminal (105) may require contact with the accountidentification device (141) to read the account information (142) (e.g.,by reading the magnetic strip of a card with a magnetic strip reader).

The transaction terminal (105) is configured to transmit anauthorization request message to the acquirer processor (147). Theauthorization request includes the account information (142), an amountof payment, and information about the merchant (e.g., an indication ofthe merchant account (148)). The acquirer processor (147) requests thetransaction handler (103) to process the authorization request, based onthe account information (142) received in the transaction terminal(105). The transaction handler (103) routes the authorization request tothe issuer processor (145) and may process and respond to theauthorization request when the issuer processor (145) is not available.The issuer processor (145) determines whether to authorize thetransaction based at least in part on a balance of the consumer account(146).

The transaction handler (103), the issuer processor (145), and theacquirer processor (147) may each include a subsystem to identify therisk in the transaction and may reject the transaction based on the riskassessment.

The account identification device (141) may include security features toprevent unauthorized uses of the consumer account (146), such as a logoto show the authenticity of the account identification device (141),encryption to protect the account information (142), etc.

The transaction terminal (105) of one embodiment is configured tointeract with the account identification device (141) to obtain theaccount information (142) that identifies the consumer account (146)and/or the issuer processor (145). The transaction terminal (105)communicates with the acquirer processor (147) that controls themerchant account (148) of a merchant. The transaction terminal (105) maycommunicate with the acquirer processor (147) via a data communicationconnection, such as a telephone connection, an Internet connection, etc.The acquirer processor (147) is to collect payments into the merchantaccount (148) on behalf of the merchant.

In one embodiment, the transaction terminal (105) is a POS terminal at atraditional, offline, “brick and mortar” retail store. In anotherembodiment, the transaction terminal (105) is an online server thatreceives account information (142) of the consumer account (146) fromthe user (101) through a web connection. In one embodiment, the user(101) may provide account information (142) through a telephone call,via verbal communications with a representative of the merchant; and therepresentative enters the account information (142) into the transactionterminal (105) to initiate the transaction.

In one embodiment, the account information (142) can be entered directlyinto the transaction terminal (105) to make payment from the consumeraccount (146), without having to physically present the accountidentification device (141). When a transaction is initiated withoutphysically presenting an account identification device (141), thetransaction is classified as a “card-not-present” (CNP) transaction.

In general, the issuer processor (145) may control more than oneconsumer account (146); the acquirer processor (147) may control morethan one merchant account (148); and the transaction handler (103) isconnected between a plurality of issuer processors (e.g., 145) and aplurality of acquirer processors (e.g., 147). An entity (e.g., bank) mayoperate both an issuer processor (145) and an acquirer processor (147).

In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103), the issuer processor(145), the acquirer processor (147), the transaction terminal (105), theportal (143), and other devices and/or services accessing the portal(143) are connected via communications networks, such as local areanetworks, cellular telecommunications networks, wireless wide areanetworks, wireless local area networks, an intranet, and Internet.Dedicated communication channels may be used between the transactionhandler (103) and the issuer processor (145), between the transactionhandler (103) and the acquirer processor (147), and/or between theportal (143) and the transaction handler (103).

In FIG. 11, the transaction handler (103) uses the data warehouse (149)to store the records about the transactions, such as the transactionrecords (301) or transaction data (109).

Typically, the transaction handler (103) is implemented using a powerfulcomputer, or cluster of computers functioning as a unit, controlled byinstructions stored on a computer readable medium. The transactionhandler (103) is configured to support and deliver authorizationservices, exception file services, and clearing and settlement services.The transaction handler (103) has a subsystem to process authorizationrequests and another subsystem to perform clearing and settlementservices. The transaction handler (103) is configured to processdifferent types of transactions, such credit card transactions, debitcard transactions, prepaid card transactions, and other types ofcommercial transactions. The transaction handler (103) interconnects theissuer processors (e.g., 145) and the acquirer processor (e.g., 147) tofacilitate payment communications.

In FIG. 11, the transaction terminal (105) is configured to submit theauthorized transactions to the acquirer processor (147) for settlement.The amount for the settlement may be different from the amount specifiedin the authorization request. The transaction handler (103) is coupledbetween the issuer processor (145) and the acquirer processor (147) tofacilitate the clearing and settling of the transaction. Clearingincludes the exchange of financial information between the issuerprocessor (145) and the acquirer processor (147); and settlementincludes the exchange of funds.

In FIG. 11, the issuer processor (145) is configured to provide funds tomake payments on behalf of the consumer account (146). The acquirerprocessor (147) is to receive the funds on behalf of the merchantaccount (148). The issuer processor (145) and the acquirer processor(147) communicate with the transaction handler (103) to coordinate thetransfer of funds for the transaction. The funds can be transferredelectronically.

The transaction terminal (105) may submit a transaction directly forsettlement, without having to separately submit an authorizationrequest.

In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides a user interface to allowthe user (101) to organize the transactions in one or more consumeraccounts (146) of the user with one or more issuers. The user (101) mayorganize the transactions using information and/or categories identifiedin the transaction records (301), such as merchant category, transactiondate (303), amount (304), etc. Examples and techniques in one embodimentare provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2007/0055597, entitled “Methodand System for Manipulating Purchase Information,” the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides transaction basedstatistics, such as indicators for retail spending monitoring,indicators for merchant benchmarking, industry/market segmentation,indicators of spending patterns, etc. Further examples can be found inU.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2009/0048884, entitled “Merchant BenchmarkingTool,” the disclosure of which application is hereby incorporated hereinby reference.

Transaction Terminal

FIG. 12 illustrates a transaction terminal according to one embodiment.The transaction terminal (105) illustrated in FIG. 12 can be used invarious systems discussed in connection with other figures of thepresent disclosure. In FIG. 12, the transaction terminal (105) isconfigured to interact with an account identification device (141) toobtain account information (142) about the consumer account (146).

In one embodiment, the transaction terminal (105) includes a memory(167) coupled to the processor (151), which controls the operations of areader (163), an input device (153), an output device (165) and anetwork interface (161). The memory (167) may store instructions for theprocessor (151) and/or data, such as an identification that isassociated with the merchant account (148).

In one embodiment, the reader (163) includes a magnetic strip reader. Inanother embodiment, the reader (163) includes a contactless reader, suchas a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, a near fieldcommunications (NFC) device configured to read data via magnetic fieldcoupling (in accordance with ISO standard 14443/NFC), a Bluetoothtransceiver, a WiFi transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a laserscanner, etc.

In one embodiment, the input device (153) includes key buttons that canbe used to enter the account information (142) directly into thetransaction terminal (105) without the physical presence of the accountidentification device (141). The input device (153) can be configured toprovide further information to initiate a transaction, such as apersonal identification number (PIN), password, zip code, etc. that maybe used to access the account identification device (141), or incombination with the account information (142) obtained from the accountidentification device (141).

In one embodiment, the output device (165) may include a display, aspeaker, and/or a printer to present information, such as the result ofan authorization request, a receipt for the transaction, anadvertisement, etc.

In one embodiment, the network interface (161) is configured tocommunicate with the acquirer processor (147) via a telephoneconnection, an Internet connection, or a dedicated data communicationchannel.

In one embodiment, the instructions stored in the memory (167) areconfigured at least to cause the transaction terminal (105) to send anauthorization request message to the acquirer processor (147) toinitiate a transaction. The transaction terminal (105) may or may notsend a separate request for the clearing and settling of thetransaction. The instructions stored in the memory (167) are alsoconfigured to cause the transaction terminal (105) to perform othertypes of functions discussed in this description.

In one embodiment, a transaction terminal (105) may have fewercomponents than those illustrated in FIG. 12. For example, in oneembodiment, the transaction terminal (105) is configured for“card-not-present” transactions; and the transaction terminal (105) doesnot have a reader (163).

In one embodiment, a transaction terminal (105) may have more componentsthan those illustrated in FIG. 12. For example, in one embodiment, thetransaction terminal (105) is an ATM machine, which includes componentsto dispense cash under certain conditions.

Account Identification Device

FIG. 13 illustrates an account identifying device according to oneembodiment. In FIG. 13, the account identification device (141) isconfigured to carry account information (142) that identifies theconsumer account (146).

In one embodiment, the account identification device (141) includes amemory (167) coupled to the processor (151), which controls theoperations of a communication device (159), an input device (153), anaudio device (157) and a display device (155). The memory (167) maystore instructions for the processor (151) and/or data, such as theaccount information (142) associated with the consumer account (146).

In one embodiment, the account information (142) includes an identifieridentifying the issuer (and thus the issuer processor (145)) among aplurality of issuers, and an identifier identifying the consumer accountamong a plurality of consumer accounts controlled by the issuerprocessor (145). The account information (142) may include an expirationdate of the account identification device (141), the name of theconsumer holding the consumer account (146), and/or an identifieridentifying the account identification device (141) among a plurality ofaccount identification devices associated with the consumer account(146).

In one embodiment, the account information (142) may further include aloyalty program account number, accumulated rewards of the consumer inthe loyalty program, an address of the consumer, a balance of theconsumer account (146), transit information (e.g., a subway or trainpass), access information (e.g., access badges), and/or consumerinformation (e.g., name, date of birth), etc.

In one embodiment, the memory includes a nonvolatile memory, such asmagnetic strip, a memory chip, a flash memory, a Read Only Memory (ROM),etc. to store the account information (142).

In one embodiment, the information stored in the memory (167) of theaccount identification device (141) may also be in the form of datatracks that are traditionally associated with credits cards. Such tracksinclude Track 1 and Track 2. Track 1 (“International Air TransportAssociation”) stores more information than Track 2, and contains thecardholder's name as well as the account number and other discretionarydata. Track 1 is sometimes used by airlines when securing reservationswith a credit card. Track 2 (“American Banking Association”) iscurrently most commonly used and is read by ATMs and credit cardcheckers. The ABA (American Banking Association) designed thespecifications of Track 1 and banks abide by it. It contains thecardholder's account number, encrypted PIN, and other discretionarydata.

In one embodiment, the communication device (159) includes asemiconductor chip to implement a transceiver for communication with thereader (163) and an antenna to provide and/or receive wireless signals.

In one embodiment, the communication device (159) is configured tocommunicate with the reader (163). The communication device (159) mayinclude a transmitter to transmit the account information (142) viawireless transmissions, such as radio frequency signals, magneticcoupling, or infrared, Bluetooth or WiFi signals, etc.

In one embodiment, the account identification device (141) is in theform of a mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), etc. The inputdevice (153) can be used to provide input to the processor (151) tocontrol the operation of the account identification device (141); andthe audio device (157) and the display device (155) may present statusinformation and/or other information, such as advertisements or offers.The account identification device (141) may include further componentsthat are not shown in FIG. 13, such as a cellular communicationssubsystem.

In one embodiment, the communication device (159) may access the accountinformation (142) stored on the memory (167) without going through theprocessor (151).

In one embodiment, the account identification device (141) has fewercomponents than those illustrated in FIG. 13. For example, an accountidentification device (141) does not have the input device (153), theaudio device (157) and the display device (155) in one embodiment; andin another embodiment, an account identification device (141) does nothave components (151-159).

For example, in one embodiment, an account identification device (141)is in the form of a debit card, a credit card, a smartcard, or aconsumer device that has optional features such as magnetic strips, orsmartcards.

An example of an account identification device (141) is a magnetic stripattached to a plastic substrate in the form of a card. The magneticstrip is used as the memory (167) of the account identification device(141) to provide the account information (142). Consumer information,such as account number, expiration date, and consumer name may beprinted or embossed on the card. A semiconductor chip implementing thememory (167) and the communication device (159) may also be embedded inthe plastic card to provide account information (142) in one embodiment.In one embodiment, the account identification device (141) has thesemiconductor chip but not the magnetic strip.

In one embodiment, the account identification device (141) is integratedwith a security device, such as an access card, a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) tag, a security card, a transponder, etc.

In one embodiment, the account identification device (141) is a handheldand compact device. In one embodiment, the account identification device(141) has a size suitable to be placed in a wallet or pocket of theconsumer.

Some examples of an account identification device (141) include a creditcard, a debit card, a stored value device, a payment card, a gift card,a smartcard, a smart media card, a payroll card, a health care card, awrist band, a keychain device, a supermarket discount card, atransponder, and a machine readable medium containing accountinformation (142).

Point of Interaction

In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) is to provide anadvertisement to the user (101), or to provide information derived fromthe transaction data (109) to the user (101).

In one embodiment, an advertisement is a marketing interaction which mayinclude an announcement and/or an offer of a benefit, such as adiscount, incentive, reward, coupon, gift, cash back, or opportunity(e.g., special ticket/admission). An advertisement may include an offerof a product or service, an announcement of a product or service, or apresentation of a brand of products or services, or a notice of events,facts, opinions, etc. The advertisements can be presented in text,graphics, audio, video, or animation, and as printed matter, webcontent, interactive media, etc. An advertisement may be presented inresponse to the presence of a financial transaction card, or in responseto a financial transaction card being used to make a financialtransaction, or in response to other user activities, such as browsing aweb page, submitting a search request, communicating online, entering awireless communication zone, etc. In one embodiment, the presentation ofadvertisements may be not a result of a user action.

In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) can be one of variousendpoints of the transaction network, such as point of sale (POS)terminals, automated teller machines (ATMs), electronic kiosks (orcomputer kiosks or interactive kiosks), self-assist checkout terminals,vending machines, gas pumps, websites of banks (e.g., issuer banks oracquirer banks of credit cards), bank statements (e.g., credit cardstatements), websites of the transaction handler (103), websites ofmerchants, checkout websites or web pages for online purchases, etc.

In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) may be the same as thetransaction terminal (105), such as a point of sale (POS) terminal, anautomated teller machine (ATM), a mobile phone, a computer of the userfor an online transaction, etc. In one embodiment, the point ofinteraction (107) may be co-located with, or near, the transactionterminal (105) (e.g., a video monitor or display, a digital sign), orproduced by the transaction terminal (e.g., a receipt produced by thetransaction terminal (105)). In one embodiment, the point of interaction(107) may be separate from and not co-located with the transactionterminal (105), such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, apersonal computer of the user, a voice mail box of the user, an emailinbox of the user, a digital sign, etc.

For example, the advertisements can be presented on a portion of mediafor a transaction with the customer, which portion might otherwise beunused and thus referred to as a “white space” herein. A white space canbe on a printed matter (e.g., a receipt printed for the transaction, ora printed credit card statement), on a video display (e.g., a displaymonitor of a POS terminal for a retail transaction, an ATM for cashwithdrawal or money transfer, a personal computer of the customer foronline purchases), or on an audio channel (e.g., an interactive voiceresponse (IVR) system for a transaction over a telephonic device).

In one embodiment, the white space is part of a media channel availableto present a message from the transaction handler (103) in connectionwith the processing of a transaction of the user (101). In oneembodiment, the white space is in a media channel that is used to reportinformation about a transaction of the user (101), such as anauthorization status, a confirmation message, a verification message, auser interface to verify a password for the online use of the accountinformation (142), a monthly statement, an alert or a report, or a webpage provided by the portal (143) to access a loyalty program associatedwith the consumer account (146) or a registration program.

In other embodiments, the advertisements can also be presented via othermedia channels which may not involve a transaction processed by thetransaction handler (103). For example, the advertisements can bepresented on publications or announcements (e.g., newspapers, magazines,books, directories, radio broadcasts, television, digital signage, etc.,which may be in an electronic form, or in a printed or painted form).The advertisements may be presented on paper, on websites, onbillboards, on digital signs, or on audio portals.

In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) purchases the rights touse the media channels from the owner or operators of the media channelsand uses the media channels as advertisement spaces. For example, whitespaces at a point of interaction (e.g., 107) with customers fortransactions processed by the transaction handler (103) can be used todeliver advertisements relevant to the customers conducting thetransactions; and the advertisement can be selected based at least inpart on the intelligence information derived from the accumulatedtransaction data (109) and/or the context at the point of interaction(107) and/or the transaction terminal (105).

In general, a point of interaction (e.g., 107) may or may not be capableof receiving inputs from the customers, and may or may not co-locatedwith a transaction terminal (e.g., 105) that initiates the transactions.The white spaces for presenting the advertisement on the point ofinteraction (107) may be on a portion of a geographical display space(e.g., on a screen), or on a temporal space (e.g., in an audio stream).

In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) may be used toprimarily to access services not provided by the transaction handler(103), such as services provided by a search engine, a social networkingwebsite, an online marketplace, a blog, a news site, a televisionprogram provider, a radio station, a satellite, a publisher, etc.

In one embodiment, a consumer device is used as the point of interaction(107), which may be a non-portable consumer device or a portablecomputing device. The consumer device is to provide media content to theuser (101) and may receive input from the user (101).

Examples of non-portable consumer devices include a computer terminal, atelevision set, a personal computer, a set-top box, or the like.Examples of portable consumer devices include a portable computer, acellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, a securitycard, a wireless terminal, or the like. The consumer device may beimplemented as a data processing system as illustrated in FIG. 14, withmore or fewer components.

In one embodiment, the consumer device includes an accountidentification device (141). For example, a smart card used as anaccount identification device (141) is integrated with a mobile phone,or a personal digital assistant (PDA).

In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) is integrated with atransaction terminal (105). For example, a self-service checkoutterminal includes a touch pad to interact with the user (101); and anATM machine includes a user interface subsystem to interact with theuser (101).

Hardware

In one embodiment, a computing apparatus is configured to include someof the components of systems illustrated in various figures, such as thetransaction handler (103), the profile generator (121), the mediacontroller (115), the portal (143), the profile selector (129), theadvertisement selector (133), the user tracker (113), the correlator,and their associated storage devices, such as the data warehouse (149).

In one embodiment, at least some of the components such as thetransaction handler (103), the transaction terminal (105), the point ofinteraction (107), the user tracker (113), the media controller (115),the correlator (117), the profile generator (121), the profile selector(129), the advertisement selector (133), the portal (143), the issuerprocessor (145), the acquirer processor (147), and the accountidentification device (141), can be implemented as a computer system,such as a data processing system (170) illustrated in FIG. 14. Some ofthe components may share hardware or be combined on a computer system.In one embodiment, a network of computers can be used to implement oneor more of the components.

Further, the data illustrated in the figures, such as transaction data(109), account data (111), transaction profiles (127), and advertisementdata (135), can be stored in storage devices of one or more computersaccessible to the corresponding components. For example, the transactiondata (109) can be stored in the data warehouse (149) that can beimplemented as a data processing system illustrated in FIG. 14, withmore or fewer components.

In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) is a payment processingsystem, or a payment card processor, such as a card processor for creditcards, debit cards, etc.

FIG. 14 illustrates a data processing system according to oneembodiment. While FIG. 14 illustrates various components of a computersystem, it is not intended to represent any particular architecture ormanner of interconnecting the components. One embodiment may use othersystems that have fewer or more components than those shown in FIG. 14.

In FIG. 14, the data processing system (170) includes an inter-connect(171) (e.g., bus and system core logic), which interconnects amicroprocessor(s) (173) and memory (167). The microprocessor (173) iscoupled to cache memory (179) in the example of FIG. 14.

In one embodiment, the inter-connect (171) interconnects themicroprocessor(s) (173) and the memory (167) together and alsointerconnects them to input/output (I/O) device(s) (175) via I/Ocontroller(s) (177). I/O devices (175) may include a display deviceand/or peripheral devices, such as mice, keyboards, modems, networkinterfaces, printers, scanners, video cameras and other devices known inthe art. In one embodiment, when the data processing system is a serversystem, some of the I/O devices (175), such as printers, scanners, mice,and/or keyboards, are optional.

In one embodiment, the inter-connect (171) includes one or more busesconnected to one another through various bridges, controllers and/oradapters. In one embodiment the I/O controllers (177) include a USB(Universal Serial Bus) adapter for controlling USB peripherals, and/oran IEEE-1394 bus adapter for controlling IEEE-1394 peripherals.

In one embodiment, the memory (167) includes one or more of: ROM (ReadOnly Memory), volatile RAM (Random Access Memory), and non-volatilememory, such as hard drive, flash memory, etc.

Volatile RAM is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) whichrequires power continually in order to refresh or maintain the data inthe memory. Non-volatile memory is typically a magnetic hard drive, amagnetic optical drive, an optical drive (e.g., a DVD RAM), or othertype of memory system which maintains data even after power is removedfrom the system. The non-volatile memory may also be a random accessmemory.

The non-volatile memory can be a local device coupled directly to therest of the components in the data processing system. A non-volatilememory that is remote from the system, such as a network storage devicecoupled to the data processing system through a network interface suchas a modem or Ethernet interface, can also be used.

In this description, some functions and operations are described asbeing performed by or caused by software code to simplify description.However, such expressions are also used to specify that the functionsresult from execution of the code/instructions by a processor, such as amicroprocessor.

Alternatively, or in combination, the functions and operations asdescribed here can be implemented using special purpose circuitry, withor without software instructions, such as using Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) or Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).Embodiments can be implemented using hardwired circuitry withoutsoftware instructions, or in combination with software instructions.Thus, the techniques are limited neither to any specific combination ofhardware circuitry and software, nor to any particular source for theinstructions executed by the data processing system.

While one embodiment can be implemented in fully functioning computersand computer systems, various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a computing product in a variety of forms and are capableof being applied regardless of the particular type of machine orcomputer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

At least some aspects disclosed can be embodied, at least in part, insoftware. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a computersystem or other data processing system in response to its processor,such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of instructions containedin a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory, cache or aremote storage device.

Routines executed to implement the embodiments may be implemented aspart of an operating system or a specific application, component,program, object, module or sequence of instructions referred to as“computer programs.” The computer programs typically include one or moreinstructions set at various times in various memory and storage devicesin a computer, and that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors in a computer, cause the computer to perform operationsnecessary to execute elements involving the various aspects.

A machine readable medium can be used to store software and data whichwhen executed by a data processing system causes the system to performvarious methods. The executable software and data may be stored invarious places including for example ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatilememory and/or cache. Portions of this software and/or data may be storedin any one of these storage devices. Further, the data and instructionscan be obtained from centralized servers or peer to peer networks.Different portions of the data and instructions can be obtained fromdifferent centralized servers and/or peer to peer networks at differenttimes and in different communication sessions or in a same communicationsession. The data and instructions can be obtained in entirety prior tothe execution of the applications. Alternatively, portions of the dataand instructions can be obtained dynamically, just in time, when neededfor execution. Thus, it is not required that the data and instructionsbe on a machine readable medium in entirety at a particular instance oftime.

Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited torecordable and non-recordable type media such as volatile andnon-volatile memory devices, read only memory (ROM), random accessmemory (RAM), flash memory devices, floppy and other removable disks,magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media (e.g., Compact DiskRead-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), etc.), amongothers. The computer-readable media may store the instructions.

The instructions may also be embodied in digital and analogcommunication links for electrical, optical, acoustical or other formsof propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digitalsignals, etc. However, propagated signals, such as carrier waves,infrared signals, digital signals, etc. are not tangible machinereadable medium and are not configured to store instructions.

In general, a machine readable medium includes any mechanism thatprovides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a formaccessible by a machine (e.g., a computer, network device, personaldigital assistant, manufacturing tool, any device with a set of one ormore processors, etc.).

In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combinationwith software instructions to implement the techniques. Thus, thetechniques are neither limited to any specific combination of hardwarecircuitry and software nor to any particular source for the instructionsexecuted by the data processing system.

Other Aspects

The description and drawings are illustrative and are not to beconstrued as limiting. The present disclosure is illustrative ofinventive features to enable a person skilled in the art to make and usethe techniques. Various features, as described herein, should be used incompliance with all current and future rules, laws and regulationsrelated to privacy, security, permission, consent, authorization, andothers. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thoroughunderstanding. However, in certain instances, well known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description.References to one or an embodiment in the present disclosure are notnecessarily references to the same embodiment; and, such references meanat least one.

The use of headings herein is merely provided for ease of reference, andshall not be interpreted in any way to limit this disclosure or thefollowing claims.

Reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,and are not necessarily all referring to separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, variousfeatures are described which may be exhibited by one embodiment and notby others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may berequirements for one embodiment but not other embodiments. Unlessexcluded by explicit description and/or apparent incompatibility, anycombination of various features described in this description is alsoincluded here. For example, the features described above in connectionwith “in one embodiment” or “in some embodiments” can be all optionallyincluded in one implementation, except where the dependency of certainfeatures on other features, as apparent from the description, may limitthe options of excluding selected features from the implementation, andincompatibility of certain features with other features, as apparentfrom the description, may limit the options of including selectedfeatures together in the implementation.

The disclosures of the above discussed patent documents are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

In the foregoing specification, the disclosure has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evidentthat various modifications may be made thereto without departing fromthe broader spirit and scope as set forth in the following claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for automatically updating merchantattributes based on a transaction message, comprising: generating, by anacquirer processor, a data file comprising: a store identifieridentifying a store of a merchant; and a plurality of merchantattributes associated with the store, wherein the plurality of merchantattributes comprise: a merchant identifier; and an offer identifierassociated with an offer offered across all stores associated with themerchant; communicating, by the acquirer processor, the data file to aportal to cause the data file to be stored in a data warehouse incommunication with the portal; receiving, by the acquirer processor, atransaction message associated with a first transaction, the transactionmessage communicated from a transaction terminal associated with thestore of the merchant, wherein the transaction message comprises: firstmerchant data identifying the merchant; and second merchant dataidentifying a new store associated with the merchant and the firsttransaction; and communicating, by the acquirer processor, thetransaction message to the portal to cause the portal to: determine amatch between the merchant identifier and the first merchant data;determine a mismatch between the store identifier and the secondmerchant data; determine that the second merchant data corresponds to anew store associated with the merchant; and update the data file toinclude a new store entry comprising the offer identifier, the firstmerchant data, and the second merchant data.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the transaction message is communicated to the portal via atransaction handler.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the transactionhandler is in communication with a plurality of acquirer processors. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein the store comprises a plurality oftransaction terminals, wherein the plurality of merchant attributesassociated with the store further comprises a transaction terminalidentifier identifying a transaction terminal of the plurality oftransaction terminals.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:generating, by the acquirer processor, an updated data file comprisingat least one of an updated store identifier and an updated plurality ofmerchant attributes; and communicating, by the acquirer processor, theupdated data file to the portal to cause the portal to update the datafile based on the updated data file.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining that the second merchant data corresponds to a new storeassociated with the merchant comprises: determining a probability thatthe second merchant data corresponds to a new store of the merchant; andin response to determining that the probability is above a predeterminedthreshold, determining that the second merchant data corresponds to anew store associated with the merchant.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the merchant has a plurality of stores at different locations,and the store identifier identifies the store of the merchant among theplurality of stores.
 8. A system for automatically updating merchantattributes based on a transaction message, the system comprising anacquirer processor programmed or configured to: generate a data filecomprising: a store identifier identifying a store of a merchant; aplurality of merchant attributes associated with the store, wherein theplurality of merchant attributes comprise: a merchant identifier; and anoffer identifier associated with an offer offered across all storesassociated with the merchant; communicate the data file to a portal tocause the data file to be stored in a data warehouse in communicationwith the portal; receive a transaction message associated with a firsttransaction, the transaction message communicated from a transactionterminal associated with the store of the merchant, wherein thetransaction message comprises: first merchant data identifying themerchant; and second merchant data identifying a new store associatedwith the merchant and the first transaction; and communicate thetransaction message to the portal to cause the portal to: determine amatch between the merchant identifier and the first merchant data;determine a mismatch between the store identifier and the secondmerchant data; determine that the second merchant data corresponds to anew store associated with the merchant; and update the data file toinclude a new store entry comprising the offer identifier, the firstmerchant data, and the second merchant data.
 9. The system of claim 8,wherein the transaction message is communicated to the portal via atransaction handler.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the transactionhandler is in communication with a plurality of acquirer processors. 11.The system of claim 8, wherein the store comprises a plurality oftransaction terminals, wherein the plurality of merchant attributesassociated with the store further comprises a transaction terminalidentifier identifying a transaction terminal of the plurality oftransaction terminals.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the acquirerprocessor is further programmed or configured to: generate an updateddata file comprising at least one of an updated store identifier and anupdated plurality of merchant attributes; and communicate the updateddata file to the portal to cause the portal to update the data filebased on the updated data file.
 13. The system of claim 8, whereindetermining that the second merchant data corresponds to a new storeassociated with the merchant comprises: determining a probability thatthe second merchant data corresponds to a new store of the merchant; andin response to determining that the probability is above a predeterminedthreshold, determining that the second merchant data corresponds to anew store associated with the merchant.
 14. The system of claim 8,wherein the merchant has a plurality of stores at different locations,and the store identifier identifies the store of the merchant among theplurality of stores.
 15. A non-transitory computer storage medium forautomatically updating merchant attributes based on a transactionmessage, the non-transitory computer storage medium comprisinginstructions configured to cause an acquirer processor to: generate adata file comprising: a store identifier identifying a store of amerchant; a plurality of merchant attributes associated with the store,wherein the plurality of merchant attributes comprise: a merchantidentifier; and an offer identifier associated with an offer offeredacross all stores associated with the merchant; communicate the datafile to a portal to cause the data file to be stored in a data warehousein communication with the portal; receive a transaction messageassociated with a first transaction, the transaction messagecommunicated from a transaction terminal associated with the store ofthe merchant, wherein the transaction message comprises: first merchantdata identifying the merchant; and second merchant data identifying anew store associated with the merchant and the first transaction; andcommunicate the transaction message to the portal to cause the portalto: determine a match between the merchant identifier and the firstmerchant data; determine a mismatch between the store identifier and thesecond merchant data; determine that the second merchant datacorresponds to a new store associated with the merchant; and update thedata file to include a new store entry comprising the offer identifier,the first merchant data, and the second merchant data.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, wherein thetransaction message is communicated to the portal via a transactionhandler.
 17. The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 16,wherein the transaction handler is in communication with a plurality ofacquirer processors.
 18. The non-transitory computer storage medium ofclaim 15, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause theacquirer processor to: generate an updated data file comprising at leastone of an updated store identifier and an updated plurality of merchantattributes; and communicate the updated data file to the portal to causethe portal to update the data file based on the updated data file. 19.The non-transitory computer storage medium of claim 15, whereindetermining that the second merchant data corresponds to a new storeassociated with the merchant comprises: determining a probability thatthe second merchant data corresponds to a new store of the merchant; andin response to determining that the probability is above a predeterminedthreshold, determining that the second merchant data corresponds to anew store associated with the merchant.
 20. The non-transitory computerstorage medium of claim 15, wherein the store comprises a plurality oftransaction terminals, wherein the plurality of merchant attributesassociated with the store further comprises a transaction terminalidentifier identifying a transaction terminal of the plurality oftransaction terminals.